Image donated by Jim Fertig
Winnebago County Poor Farm
Winnebago County Poor Farm
Source: Rockford Republic 2/6/1915
Winnebago County Poor Farm – color postcard
Source: Winnebago County Poor Farm color postcard, published by Wendell Stationery Co., Rockford, ILL. Postal date on postcard: 1927.
Postcard donated by Dennis Reece
Winnebago County Poor Farm – ‘Almshouse’ Days thing of the past, 1956
Source: Rockford Register-Republic 1-31-1956
Winnebago County Poor Farm
Became River Bluff Nursing Home
Source: Rockfordiana file under W & Nuggets of History 1986, Vol. 23, No. 1 and No. 2
River Bluff Nursing Home (and other history/names)
1853: It was called the Winnebago County Farm and sometimes Winnebago County Poor Farm or The Almshouse
1883: A section was added to the building to expand for additional residents
1953: The name of the institution changed to Rockford Township Hospital and Nursing Home
1956: The name changed to River Bluff Nursing Home
We have a Rockfordiana File of W – River Bluff Nursing Home
We have a Cemetery Book of Winnebago County Farm Cemetery.
This is one of the yellowed original newspaper articles about the County Hospital from 1953. (The news never dies with us! We LOVE the history in the newspaper!)
Source: Rockford Morning Star March 15, 1953
Winnebago County Poor Farm – Death Records, 1905
Source: Rockford Morning Star May 10, 1905