P Places                                                  McKinney Area Places

Collin County Poor Farm - McKinney

The Collin County Poor Farm was located in a valley on the west side of present-day Hardin Blvd near Chancellor Lane, about 2 miles north of Eldorado. Originally, the Poor Farm was used to house and to care for the county’s indigent residents. In later years, it housed county prisoners, who could work off their fines earning $1 a day.

At the time that the Poor Farm closed in the 1950s, it contained several buildings – a Main House plus another house and an apartment for residents, a Mess Hall, out buildings, a Jail, and a Confinement Building (also called “The Cage”). The buildings fell into disrepair.

When the land was developed in 1998, the Confinement Building was moved to the Collin County Farm Museum. A local resident acquired and restored the Mess Hall and the Jail. The rest of the buildings were demolished.
Collin County Historical Marker  2011

Main house

Mess Hall

Wall in the Cage

The Cage

Wall in the Cage

Collin County Farm

As early as 1858 Collin County
had a system for providing
relief to its indigent citizens.
This property was acquired in
1886 and became known as the
County Farm. Structures were
built over the years to house
the residents, who helped main-
tain the farm. In the 1920s the
authorities began housing county
prisoners here in special guarded
facilities. Also located on the
farm was a Paupers’ Cemetery,
which is still maintained by
the county. The Collin County
Farm ceased operations in the
1950s.
Texas Historical Marker 1988