View of York County Alms House

Philadelphia: Pomeroy, Whitman and Company, 1876. 1 double-leaf print from the 1876 Atlas of York County, Pa. Signed "Ray Del." In the lower right notes that F.T. Scott was the resident director of the almshouse. Inset illustration of the barn and stock of the almshouse. Frederick T. Scott (b. 1824) had been elected director in 1873. The brick building was designed by Edward Haviland, son of John Haviland, and built in 1859. Three stories tall with an attic and slate roof, it consisted of a center portion with one wing on the rear of either side. The southern wing housed the male residents and the northern the female. The second floor contained two insane wards for male and female patients, and the third floor housed an infirmary. Non-white inmates were housed in the basement, which also contained the kitchen. Ten years after this print appeared, the 1886 State Charities Report criticised the institution for housing the aged, feeble-minded, violent, epileptic, and infirm together. The bedding and accommodations of the institution were described as "filthy and abominable." Today, both the almshouse and the adjacent prison, also designed by Edward Haviland, have been demolished. The former site of the alsmhouse is occupied by the Alexander Goode School. In Very Good+ Condition: slight staining along edges, not impacting the image; solid and otherwise clean. Very Good +. Item #004111

Price: $32.00