The old LaGrange County Home sits quietly beside a subdivision that’s been folded into a golf course. The arrangement’s so neat and modern that it almost erases what came before! Fairways roll where fields once stretched, and tidy homes stand where outbuildings and farm operations supported the institution’s daily life. If I hadn’t known exactly what to look for, I would’ve driven right past without a second thought. Fortunately, I found it.
In 1882, LaGrange County Commissioners purchased 150 acres from William Boyd for $7,500 to establish a county home and farm1. P.N. Stroup & Co. built the $8,800 infirmary, and a barn followed in 18832. A cemetery about a quarter-mile west of the home was established the same year3,
Much of LaGrange County is rural. Perhaps because of that, there’s not a lot of information out there about the old county infirmary. I do know that the farm closed in March 1956, when some of its patients were transferred to Marks Nursing Home in Mongo. The rest were placed in the homes of relatives or others willing to provide care4.
The 155-acre property -not including the cemetery5– was sold at public auction on December 29, 19566. As I mentioned, most of the old county farm site is now home to the Fairway View addition and Heron Creek Golf Club.
The infirmary housed a nursing home after it closed7. Today, it’s known as Historic Apartments at Fairway View8. Several of its old outbuildings, like what appear to have been a barn, a shed, and possibly, a “lunatics’ ward” remain.
Sources Cited
1 LaGrange County Infirmary (2015, November 15). Asylum Projects. Web. Retrieved March 21, 2026.
2 (See footnote 1).
3 Spiers, A. (1956, May 27. Fantastic Tombstones. The South Bend Tribune. p. 925.
4 LaGrange Co. Closes Infirmary; To Place All Inmates In Homes. (1956, February 14). Monticello Daily Herald Journal. p. 1.
5 Funeral Services Held For Joseph Ray Dangler (1956, November 29). The Garrett Clipper. p. 9.
6 Public Sale (1956, December 26). The Angola Herald. p. 7.
7 (See footnote 1).
8 Parcel 44-06-24-400-001.003-004 (2026). Office of the Assessor. LaGrange County [LaGrange]. Web. Retrieved March 21, 2026.
I wonder if they ever had a lot of nice girls there…
Ted, I enjoy reading your posts about schools and county homes, but as a non-Hoosier could I please make one request? When you post about an institution could you please include a state map showing the county location, if it’s not inconvenient? It would give me and perhaps some others a better feel for things. Thanks!
Yes! Good suggestion. Can’t promise I’ll go back and add that to every one of the 1400 posts here, but I can for the county homes and do it moving forward.
I wonder if the large Amish population there made a county home less sustainable there than in other places. I don’t know, but would imagine that the Amish would care for their own indigent rather than having the county do it.
I haven’t researched it, but I bet you’re right.
There’s a woods next to that golf course – which used to be the local country club. In that woods used to be small piles of stones. My dad took me there one day, and told me to remember. Those stones are the only markers for the graves of those who died there. He did huge amounts of research on properties in the area for his clients. He never said how he knew, but he told me to remember, because someone should.
That’s awesome of your dad, and I’m glad you have.
I learned about the cemetery just after I got home. I don’t make it up that way that often, but I’ve been told to go back for a tenderloin at Destination 814. When I do, I’ll be sure to stop by.