Wellington County House of Industry and Refuge

Wellington County House of Industry and Refuge - Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The Wellington County House of Industry and Refuge, located in Fergus, Ontario, is the oldest surviving state-supported poorhouse in Canada. Constructed in 1877, the site operated as a poorhouse and farm until 1947, and as an old age home until 1971. In the 1980s, the building was repurposed to house the Wellington County Museum and Archives. The Wellington County House of Industry and Refuge was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1995 based on its illustration of 19th century attitudes towards poverty and the origins of Canada's social safety net. Read more on Wikipedia

type: historic site
date from: 1876

Source: en.wikipedia.org