Forgotten Voices: Poor Farms in Kings County
The creation of this webpage was funded in part by the Nova Scotia Archives through the Provincial Archives Development Project. It complements the physical exhibition at the Kings County Museum by exploring the history, social role, and human stories of poor farms in Kings County and the broader Nova Scotia poor house system.
Research, exhibition development, and webpage content for this project were completed by Kings County Museum Curator, Kaleigh Weickert, during winter 2026.
What are poor farms?
For more than 200 years, Nova Scotia operated institutions known as poor houses or, in rural contexts, poor farms. These publicly funded facilities housed people who could not support themselves, including the elderly, people with disabilities, the chronically ill, unmarried mothers, children, and others deemed unable to live independently.
In 1763, responsibility for poor relief shifted to local townships. Each appointed Overseers of the Poor, who determined who qualified for assistance and what form it would take. Relief might include limited aid provided at home, boarding an individual with another family, or admission to the poor house. In documented cases, individuals were effectively auctioned to the lowest bidder, who received public funds in exchange for their labour. Oversight appears to have varied.
Poor houses were often presented as cost-saving measures. Housing those in need under one roof was considered more economical than distributing financial assistance. Historical accounts suggest that poverty carried significant stigma, and some former residents described feelings of shame associated with entering a poor house.
In most institutions, daily life was regulated, and residents were not free to leave without permission.
The system remained in place in Nova Scotia until the later half of the 20th century, declining as attitudes changed and twentieth-century social welfare programs reduced reliance on institutional relief.
Life inside the poor farm
Conditions inside Nova Scotia’s poor houses varied over time and by location. Surviving accounts suggest that some institutions faced overcrowding, limited sanitation, and aging infrastructure.
In a twentieth-century firsthand account, Richard Wagner described buildings affected by rats, lice, and bedbugs. He recalled that, at the time his family arrived, there was no electricity, no central heating, and no indoor plumbing. During winter, pipes reportedly froze, and water sometimes had to be carried from wells. Wagner also recounted contracting typhoid fever from drinking water contaminated by nearby livestock.
Sleeping arrangements differed. Some records describe shared rooms with little space between beds. In certain facilities, windows were nailed shut and doors locked at night. Chamber pots were used in place of indoor toilets in some cases.
Medical treatment options were limited, particularly before modern medications became widely available. Individuals experiencing mental illness were frequently housed alongside elderly and physically disabled residents, often without specialized care.
Some recollections include modest social activities—card games, music, shared treats—suggesting that experiences were not uniform. Still, entry into a poor house generally meant living within a structured and institutional environment.
Poor Farms in Kings County
By the late nineteenth century, Kings County operated three poor houses: the Horton Township Poor House at Greenwich, the Cornwallis Township Poor House at Billtown, and the Aylesford Poor House near Auburn. These institutions housed people who could not support themselves, including elderly individuals, people living with illness or disability, and those facing severe economic hardship.
Historical records suggest that conditions in some of these buildings were difficult. The Horton Poor House, like those at Cornwallis and Aylesford, operated in an old farmhouse not designed for institutional living. One account described the building as lacking plumbing, bathing facilities, adequate heating, and proper ventilation. Residents reportedly lived in cramped quarters with poor sanitation. The original Horton building burned in 1893 and was replaced with another structure that remained in use until the early 1920s.
Inspections of the Cornwallis Poor House also raised concerns. During one visit by the provincial Inspector of Humane Institutions, bedding was described as “poor and inadequate,” and the building itself as “dirty and untidy.” Reports indicate that staff were responsible for caring for residents with very different needs, sometimes including individuals described as violent or seriously ill.
Staffing shortages were another challenge. In 1917, Dr. W. H. Hattie, Nova Scotia’s Inspector of Humane Institutions, reported that Kings County’s poor houses did not have enough staff to properly care for residents. This placed what he described as a “heavy burden” on the matrons and workers responsible for daily operations.
In 1926–1927, the county replaced the three township homes with a single institution: the Waterville Poor House. It operated as the county’s poor farm until 1972. The building was demolished in 1979, and today nothing remains of the site.
Writing in 1917, Dr. Hattie observed that Kings County was “one of Nova Scotia’s wealthiest and most progressive counties… a county which nature has singularly favoured.” Yet within this prosperous landscape, vulnerable residents were living in conditions he believed demanded greater care and compassion. He argued that the county must show a “sufficient spirit of humanity” toward those living and suffering in its poor houses.
How did we get here?
Nova Scotia’s poor house system developed within a broader British legal and religious framework. The Elizabethan Poor Laws, formalized in the sixteenth century, established a structured system of relief in England. These laws distinguished between those considered “deserving” of assistance and those viewed as capable of work. Poverty was often interpreted through a moral lens.
When British authorities established colonial administration in Nova Scotia, they brought elements of this system with them. Unlike Mi’kmaq and Acadian communities, which relied heavily on communal support networks, British officials implemented a formalized relief structure. Overseers of the Poor were granted authority to determine eligibility.
Religious beliefs shaped these approaches. Many Protestant communities emphasized industriousness and self-discipline, ideas later described as the Protestant work ethic. Within this framework, poverty and dependency were frequently linked to perceived moral weakness.
By the nineteenth century, some policymakers argued that relief should discourage long-term dependency. Institutional care in poor houses was influenced, in part, by this thinking.
In the twentieth century, legislation such as old age pensions and unemployment insurance began to shift public policy toward broader social responsibility.
Further Resources
The Nova Scotia Archives
Nova Scotia Archives is the provincial institution which acquires, preserves, and makes accessible Nova Scotia's documentary heritage. This consists of recorded information of local significance created or accumulated by both the private sector and government from the 17th century until now. Researches can visit them in person or search their online database to learn more about the poor house system in Nova Scotia.
Memory NS
MemoryNS is Nova Scotia’s online archival database, providing public access to historical records from archives and museums across the province. As part of this project, documents from the Kings County Museum archives relating to poor farms have been digitized and uploaded to MemoryNS, where visitors can explore them and learn more about the history of poor relief in Kings County and Nova Scotia more broadly.