Established in 1888, the DuPage County Almshouse provided housing for the county's poor, disabled, elderly and homeless residents. Also called the DuPage County Poor Farm and the County Farm, the site later became known as the DuPage Convalescent Center and currently as the DuPage Care Center.



Initially those who died at the DuPage County Poor Farm were buried in a potter's field at the nearby Wheaton Cemetery. In 1896 the county established the cemetery at the Poor Farm:



--The County paupers who have been interred in the Wheaton cemetery, were taken up and removed to the new burial lot on the County Farm this week. They were seven in number. -Wheaton Illinoian, December 4, 1896, p5



--The County Alms House has been a county institution since 1889 and during the seven years there have only been twelve deaths there. Five of those were claimed by relatives and the seven taken up and interred in the new Alms House cemetery last week were Chas. Nelson, of Naperville, who died July 18, 1889; Fritz Rung, of York, May 24, 1890; Casper Misner, Naperville, June 24, 1890; John Shentzly, Milton, March 25, 1891; Peter Martenson, Lisle, May 3, 1895; Fritz Duchrow, York, October 23, 1896. Peter Larson who was killed here Thanksgiving day was also interred there. -Wheaton Illinoian, December 11, 1896, p5 [the locations refer to county townships not communities]



In 1995 the county reinstalled a metal arch at the cemetery reading "DU PAGE CO. FARM" believed to date from the late 1800s and removed in 1979 during construction at the convalescent center. The county held a ceremony rededicating the cemetery and placed a boulder incorrectly noting "Established 1888" detailed in an article in the Nov 25 1996 Chicago Tribune.



The article noted:

-A 1995 engineering survey found what appeared to be 136 graves

-A photo in county archives of a small round disc, with the number 60 on it, believed to mark one of the graves



An unsourced note states the presence of four concrete posts, presumed to mark the corners of the cemetery, some possibly removed during the expansion of the DuPage County Juvenile Detention Center.



Accessing the DuPage County Poor Farm Cemetery:

Located behind the DuPage County Coroner (414 N. County Farm Rd.) and DU-COMM (420 N. County Farm Rd.) buildings. A curving gravel path leads back to the cemetery, the entrance point being nearest to the parking lot in front of the DuPage County Family Center (422 N. County Farm Rd.).



DuPage County maintains the cemetery. Graves are not visibly marked or identified.