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 county homes of Indiana don’t come in one shape. Some are weathered stone saltboxes standing for a century. Others spread out like a trident when you see them from above. Plenty take a familiar T-shape, too, and LaPorte County’s follows that last layout and runs with it. The building sprawls! Of all the infirmaries I’ve tracked down, it may be the largest.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from tracking down Indiana’s old county homes, it’s that may of their stories barely sit still long enough to be told cleanly. Dates shift, origins blur, and every source seems to tell a slightly different version of how things began. The Montgomery County Home near Crawfordsville is exemplary.

The old Jay County Home sits removed, a quarter-mile off County Road 200-North back past a tree-lined drive. When I stopped by, I expected to find a place still quietly operating under county care. Instead, I arrived just after it had closed. Now, the building stands in an uneasy pause. It’s future is very much up in the air.

The old Noble County Home is a sprawling institution that has spent decades trying to pass itself off as something more ordinary. From the road, it looks less like a relic of public welfare than a massive old house that’s seen better days. That only makes its past more intriguing.

Some buildings demand your attention even when you don’t know their story. For years, one of those places has stood along U.S. 27 just south of Winchester. It’s the old Randolph County Infirmary. 

I’m still pretty early in my quest to visit every surviving county home in Indiana, but one of the first I tracked down was in Wells County. About three miles southeast of Bluffton along South County Home Road, the shuttered Wells County Infirmary and Orphan’s Asylum still marks the spot where people once cared for their most vulnerable residents.

Indiana is known for its miles and miles of cornfields. Head a few miles south toward the Ohio River, though, and the land starts to roll, rise, and twist. Before long, you’re navigating hills that feel out of place in the Hoosier State! For now, you’ll find the old Switzerland County Home down there. 

I’d been to six or seven county homes by the time I ventured to Howard Haven just west of Kokomo. A couple of things struck me as I circled the property. For one, it’s still owned and operated by Howard County! Aside from that, it’s far more modern than the majority of the institutions I’d visited at that stage of my journey. Here’s some of its story.