The Poor House sheltered about a dozen of the county’s poorest residents, both white and black, who were mainly elderly and handicapped people. The site therefore represents the poorest and least capable of the county’s residents, people about who almost nothing is known. The first surviving list of the residents at the Poor House is dated 1795 and reads:
· William Miliner deaf and a very old man
· James Wilky a very deaf old man
· William Martin deaf and blind
· Celia Wilkinson very infirm
· Ann Lunceford and Child . . .
· Arrabelle Baze a blind troublesome old Woman
· Elizabeth Wood an insane Woman
· Elisabeth Doughty to Assist in Washing
At least one description of the Poor House survives, written in 1926 by a welfare reformer:
"Poor farm located 13 miles south of Manassas, way back on poor, cutover land, off any traveled road, in a woods. Very few know that such a place exists. The poorhouse is an old frame shack, one story, about 14 x 84 with 6 rooms, some without doors, windows boarded up. Fertilizer sacks filled with straw and old buggy cushions for mattresses on broke-down beds. Bed covers are rags— parts of old blankets or quilts, very filthy. An old man, clothes ragged and filthy, asleep on a pile of dirty rags, in a vile room swarming with flies and vermin. Poor and insufficient food; poor, filthy clothing; no music, amusement or religious services. No medical attention whatever; no screens, the place reeking with bedbugs and body lice. Well water, filthy outside privies used by both sexes, no sewerage, slop and garbage just thrown through the doors. Contaminating diseased inmates use same bedrooms and toilets as do other inmates, and their clothes go into a common wash. Men’s and women’s bedrooms adjoin."
There is also a sketch of the buildings at the Poor House that was made when the property was surveyed for the county in 1872. Although smudged, this sketch clearly shows three buildings, one smaller than the other two, and a well. The Poor House was closed and the property sold off in 1928.
