Tucked quietly into the woods just north of Stillwater, Minnesota, lies a small and nearly forgotten cemetery, the resting place of residents from Washington County’s Poor Farm.
In 1858, the county purchased 207 acres of land here to create a “Poor Farm,” one of Minnesota’s earliest efforts to care for people who were struggling, those who were elderly, ill, or simply down on their luck. Residents lived and worked on the farm, raising crops, tending animals, and helping maintain the property. The farm was meant to be as self-sustaining as possible, offering both shelter and purpose.
Over the years, the Poor Farm evolved with the times. A larger brick building was constructed in 1925. It became the Washington County Home in the 1930s and later the Pine Point Nursing Home before closing in the 1970s. The property was eventually transformed by Washington County into Pine Point Regional Park, with 26 acres sold and redeveloped into the elegant Outing Lodge.
A few hundred yards from the old farm site, among the trees, lies the Poor Farm Cemetery. Once marked by simple wooden or stone markers, it’s now almost hidden by forest growth. Records suggest that more than forty people were buried here in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Today, the cemetery is unmarked and quiet. It’s easy to miss unless you know where to look. It serves as a gentle reminder of one of the ways early communities cared for their most vulnerable, and of the many lives that helped shape Washington County’s early history. This photo was taken in 1989 as part of an effort to document the cemetery during the planning of Pine Point Park by Washington County. The photographer is unknown, and you can find it and others taken near it in book 21 of the John Runk Historical Photo Collection in the St. Croix Collection Room.