Perched high on a hill above Strawtown Pike just south of Peru, the old Miami County Home is about as representative of the infirmary trope as any I’ve seen! I’ve been to most of Indiana’s old infirmaries and, although they vary considerably in size, style, and condition, Miami County’s appears to embody nearly everything that makes these places so fascinating to me.
Miami County was established in 1832 from portions of Cass County and the surrounding unorganized territory. Officials wasted little time making provisions for the county’s disadvantaged, and purchased a tract of land in Jefferson Township near the community of Courter in 1835. Fortunately, the need for a county home wasn’t particularly pressing at first. About a decade passed before two, two-story log buildings were finally constructed on the property1.
Unfortunately, the need for better facilities eventually surpassed the utility of those early buildings, so a new plot on the old Strawtown Road in Washington Township was acquired. The county contracted John Clifton to build a replacement infirmary in 1864. It was used until 1877, when Wampler & Clifton built a third2. That structure was condemned in 1918, and officials appropriated $50,000 ($1.1 million today) to replace it after the conclusion of World War I3.
Although most4 of the sources5 I’ve found6 indicate that the extant Miami County Home was built in 1918, I’m not sure that was the case. One article I found says that Charles Clifton wasn’t awarded the $37,805 contract to erect it until the following year7! At least the infirmary appears to have been completed by 1921, when it was one of thirty-one in Indiana state inspectors reported to be in good condition8.
Architecturally, the infirmary is sort of a mishmash of styles. Its brick exterior, symmetrical arrangement of tall windows, and restrained ornamentation suggest Colonial Revival influences, but the broad, low-pitched hipped roofs and horizontal emphasis seem more characteristic of the Prairie School. Meanwhile, the porch, sturdy brick piers, and straightforward detailing remind me of the Craftsman movement. More specifically, the building features flat-topped brick corner piers, concrete Tuscan columns, and brick walls capped with limestone9. Despite that mixture of architectural details, the feature that caught my eye most was the central attic dormer. It’s like a squat little candle on top of a cake.
Despite the impression the landmark makes, a county home wasn’t really a place anyone hoped to wind up at. I came across several stories about the Miami County Home’s residents, but one that stood out involved Edmond O’Brian, once among the county’s best-known citizens. A native of County Cork in Ireland, O’Brian came to Indiana at the age of thirty-two and found work on the railroad. Exceptionally frugal, he saved most of his earnings and invested in residential real estate. By the 1920s, he owned thirty properties in Peru! Unfortunately, the Great Depression wiped out his fortune as tenants defaulted on their rent. O’Brian eventually lost everything. Once a prosperous property owner, he died practically penniless at the county infirmary in 194110.
O’Brian was buried at Peru’s Catholic Cemetery11, but the Miami County Home maintained a burial ground of its own, commonly known today as Poor Farm Cemetery. Located about two-fifths of a mile northwest of the infirmary along County Road 250-South, the cemetery is nearly impossible to recognize today. A previous landowner apparently plowed over the visible traces of its original purpose, leaving little indication that anyone was ever buried there. Fortunately, a single memorial marker now commemorates the sixty-eight people known to have been laid to rest on the property.
Indiana’s county homes have closed for a variety of reasons over the years. Some shut down after their populations dwindled to the point that continued operation was no longer practical, while others became obsolete following the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid. More recently, officials have questioned whether providing residential care should remain the responsibility of county taxpayers. The Miami County Home, however, closed under unusual circumstances.
In 1971, the United States Labor Board determined that the Miami County Commissioners owed $23,000 in back wages to infirmary employees, primarily its superintendent and matron12. The dispute centered on federal minimum-wage requirements, which commissioners refused to meet because they maintained that the affected workers were independent contractors instead of actual employees. Rather than paying the disputed wages, officials decided to close the infirmary for good. Its twenty-four remaining residents were transferred to other facilities13.
The Miami County Home was auctioned in February 1972 in a sale that included the two-story brick residence, barns, outbuildings, and 160 acres of farmland14. A farmer with property next door bought the infirmary and its grounds for $67,00015. Today, the assessor counts the building as a duplex, but Google tags it as the home of Vintage Campers, an RV dealer.
The old Miami County Home is the latest stop in my ongoing project to visit all of Indiana’s surviving county infirmaries, but it won’t be the last. I still have a handful of visits to write about and ten more buildings to explore in the southwestern part of the state. Each of Indiana’s county homes has a story to tell, and although their histories often follow similar paths, I’ve yet to encounter one just like the grand old building in Miami County.
Sources Cited1 Bodurtha, A.L. (1914). History of Miami County Indiana. The Lewis Publishing Company [Chicago, New York]. Book.
2 (See footnote 1).
3 Hoosier News Briefly Told (1918, July 18). The Burnettsville News. p. 2.
4 Miami County Poor Farm (2026, March 13). Asylum Projects. Web. Retrieved October 18, 2026.
5 Parcel 52-11-03-300-003.000-021 (2026). Office of the Assessor. Miami County [Peru]. Web. Retrieved October 18, 2026.
6 Survey Number 103-079-40010 (1997). IHSSI (County Survey). SHAARD. Indiana Department of Natural Resources [Indianapolis]. Web. Retrieved October 18, 2026.
7 Items of News Told in Lines (1919, March 11). The Elwood Call-Leader. p. 5.
8 DeKalb County Infirmary Praised By State Board (1921, January 27). The Garrett Clipper. p. 8.
9 (See footnote 6).
10 Once Wealthy Peru Man Dies In Infirmary (1941, February 17). The Kokomo Tribune. p. 5.
11 (See footnote 10).
12 County Home In Miami Will Close July 31 (1971, July 21). The Logansport Pharos-Tribune. p. 21.
13 Miami County Home To Be Sold At Auction (1972, February 17). The Indianapolis Star. p. 71.
14 (See footnote 13).
15 Miami County Home Sold At Auction (1972, February 22). The Kokomo Tribune. p. 10.
The old “they’re not employees, they’re independent contractors” dodge has bitten a lot of people seeking a cost-saving loophole over the years.
Shenanaginry!