Some buildings almost dare you to come closer. Indiana’s old county homes have that effect on me! They were never meant to be grand landmarks, but many of them ended up that way as large, institutional structures sitting outside of town and built to house people whose lives had taken difficult turns. When I find one still standing, especially far away in the countryside, I always feel a pull to learn more about it.
The old Union County Home is one of those places. It rises unexpectedly from the rural landscape, a huge brick building that feels out of place among the surrounding fields. I’ll admit that part of me would love to walk through it and see what remains inside! Urban explorers might call that irresistible.
Still, I’ve always felt that these places deserve a little more respect than that. County homes weren’t abandoned factories or forgotten shopping malls; they were the last refuge for people who had nowhere else to go. For me, it’s enough to stand outside, take some photos, and try to piece together the story of what happened there.
The Union County Home got its start as part of a unique arrangement found nowhere else in Indiana- a tri-county poor farm. In 1834, the Indiana legislature authorized a joint asylum to serve the residents of Fayette, Franklin, and Union Counties. Officials from each purchased the 208-acre Thomas Clark Farm in Fayette County’s Jackson Township. A small brick building was soon erected. It opened in 18351.
The original poor farm was used until 1856, when Union County bought out the other two counties2. In 1871, officials purchased 143 acres near Kitchel in rural Harrison Township for $1,2003. The extant home there was designed by George Bunting, an Indianapolis architect best known for his courthouses. It was completed in 18894.
Facing north, the Union County Home is a massive, I-shaped structure with a raised limestone basement and two full stories. The main entrance projects from the rest of the building and features a monumental stair that leads to a recessed entryway under a trio of portals with a balcony. A stone arch topped by five narrow windows tops the main facade, which is capped by a pointed roof that implies the presence of a central turret.
The barn at the Union County Home burned in 1935 and a replacement was built the following year5. 1936 also saw the institution home to seventeen residents, uncharitably known in those days as “inmates6.”
After eighty-three years, the Union County Home closed in December 1972. Fifteen acres that included barns, outbuildings, and the big brick building itself were sold. At the same time, the county retained forty acres of the old property for a highway garage, transfer station, and landfill. 103 tillable acres were left over, rented for $175 an acre to a nearby farmer7. In 2005, officials contemplated reinvesting in that area as a park. Unfortunately, I’m not sure it ever happened8.
Today, the former Union County Home remains situated on fifteen acres first sold by the county in 1972. The barn just west has been demolished, but a modern structure apparently used as a home today sits to the east of the 137-year-old home. I’m not completely sure what the rural landmark is being used as today, if anything. Portions appeared boarded up as I passed, while other parts seemed to be in fair condition.
Places like the old Union County Home remind me why I’ve been drawn to Indiana’s old infirmaries in the first place. They’re imposing structures, but their real significance lies in the human stories they once contained. I may never see the inside of the Union County Home, and that’s probably for the best. Sometimes it’s enough just to stand outside, camera in hand, and remember that this lonely building was once a community- one built not out of ambition or pride, but out of necessity and compassion.
Sources Cited
1 Reifel, A. (1915). History of Franklin County. B.F. Bowen & Company [Indianapolis]. Book.
2 Union County Poorhouse (2021, April 25). Asylum Projects. Web. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
3 Tharp, P. (2005, April 27). Board considers park request. The Richmond Palladium-Item. p. 3.
4 Camera Shutters Click on Scenes of District and National Figures, Events (1936, November 15). The Richmond Item. p. 24.
5 New Union County Infirmary Barn (1936, August 30). The Richmond Item. p. 2.
6 (See footnote 5).
7 (See footnote 3).
8 (See footnote 3).
What an edifice! That building looks like it could stand forever.
Something just now occurs to me. It seems that most of these homes were conceived as working farms, where residents who were down on their luck would be expected to work for their food. But somewhere along the line, it seems like the populations became old enough or too beset by physical or mental illness to make the farm a viable option. Did the makeup of the poorest people in a county change between the 1850s and maybe 1930? Or did the rest of us decide to remove the work requirements from those living on public generosity? I have no answer.