Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
Craig County residents and preservation leaders gathered Saturday, Sept. 13, for the unveiling of a historic marker recognizing the Craig County Poor Farm, which operated from 1892 to 1921.
The marker, located near the old Sinking Creek Store about 13 miles from New Castle, highlights the history of the 240-acre property once used to house and support the county’s poor.
Craig County purchased the land in 1890 from John William Troutt and Agnes Eakin for $9,000 to “provide a suitable farm as a place of general reception for the poor of said County,” according to county records. Residents, many elderly or disabled, contributed farm labor as they were able.
The Poor Farm was overseen at different times by Joshua Day Looney, Charles “Bub” Keffer and Charles Mason Duncan. Records show the farm housed eight residents in 1900, five in 1909 and seven in 1920. The state Board of Charities and Corrections listed its capacity at 12.
By 1921, Virginia began phasing out poorhouses in favor of new welfare programs, and the property was sold to brothers Tracy and Denny Jones. Denny and his wife, known locally as “Miss Em,” raised their family on the farm, including son Elmer Gerald Jones, father of genealogist Jerry Jones, who later helped secure the site’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
In the early 2000s, preservationist Tracy Frist acquired the former Poor Farm and incorporated it into her agricultural operation. Over the next 25 years, she worked to conserve the land and preserve its structures, making the property eligible for national historic recognition.
Frist now serves on the national board of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, where she chairs the historic sites committee. She and her husband, former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, also manage a preserved farm in Middle Tennessee.
The new marker ensures the legacy of the Craig County Poor Farm will be remembered as part of the county’s history of resilience and community care.