The History of the Stephenson County Nursing Home
Walnut Acres was formerly known as Stephenson County Nursing Center. Some of the following information was obtained from the Silver Creek Museum website, 2954 S. Walnut Rd, Freeport, IL 61032. Other information was found in the county clerk's minutes around the time of the referendum in 1970 and 1998.
In September 1825, the Stephenson County Board appointed a Committee to investigate the need for a County Poor Farm to house the indigent and provide work for them.
In 1854, the first "Poor House", and a house for the Warden to live in were built.
On January 28, 1859, the Poor House was destroyed by fire. The blaze originated in the room of one of the patients, Lavinia Kohn, sometime after the Matron made her evening rounds. The patient, who was locked in her room since she required restraint, died in the fire and another patient was badly burned. A new building of stone was completed that same year. It had seven rooms and a dining hall on the first floor and ten rooms upstairs.
In the spring of 1859 a two-story brick building with ten cells was also constructed. This was to house the insane, and when required, cases of contagious disease. It was known as the "Asylum" or the "Pest House".
In 1872, the County Board approved the erection of a farmhouse to house the Superintendent. This house was occupied until it was torn down to make way for an addition to the present Stephenson County Nursing Home.
The Poor Farm was located on 10 acres. There were several outbuildings on the site including a large barn. The farm provided much of the food eaten, such as milk, butter, eggs, pork, potatoes, and vegetables. All the bread was made in the home's bakery. Women's clothing and men's shirts were made at the home. There was a barber and a cobbler who mended the shoes and boots. Every able-bodied person had a job to do, either in the barn, in the garden, or the house.
In February 1900, in a report made by the County Board, there were "sixty-two paupers, twenty-six of whom are crazy, five who are weak and three who have fits."
In 1902, a three-story stone building was erected in front of the old building at the cost of about $20,000. There was room for 100 people. The stone for the new building was brought from the Smith Quarry just off Walnut Road and about two miles north of the building site.
In 1912, the name was officially changed from "Poor Farm" to "County Home."
In 1914, there were 101 inmates. A few paid board but many were without money. There were the old and infirm, epileptics, alcoholics, many retarded, and some insane. Often inmates were children or mothers with small children. If children had no parents they were cared for in the Superintendent's home and efforts were always made to find homes for them.
In 1915, the Poor House was supported by money from the townships. Townships were each charged the cost of supporting the inmates that their township Supervisors sent to live there. Records show the cost per inmate in 1900 was $1.08 per week and $5.00 per week.
In July of 1927, a fire destroyed the building, leaving only its heavy stone walls. A new building was erected using the original native stone walls. This time the building had only two stories instead of the original three. This is the building today.
In 1970 a County-wide referendum was passed, to build a new, one-story, state-approved Stephenson County Nursing Home. It was built and equipped to house ninety-eight residents. The decision was made to build North of the site of the old County Home.
On May 16, 1987, an addition was built to the present building and the last sheltered care residents were moved from the old building to the new one.
In 1998 a second referendum for a $500K Tax Levy was voted on, 25 years later. This amount has not changed in 26 years and is approx $25 per tax-paying household.
In 2018, the Stephenson County Nursing Home changed its name to Walnut Acres. Here's an article about that name change.
In May 2022 hired a Management Company called Transitional Care Management (TCM). TCM was hired to address the complexity of healthcare billing and management in today's world. They immediately discovered errors in bed rates and billing and have helped turn Walnut Acres into a profitable asset for our community. The County Board's Nursing Home Committee made up of 5 County Board members oversees the work of TCM and the Administer who in onsite.
Here's a link to a second article about the history of the poor farm and its start.
