ANOTHER WAY TO LOCATE OLD POORHOUSES !

Over I-95 in Southern Virginia Near Exit 33  (photo taken at 75 mph !)

Note: The photographer who took this picture did not mean to be anonymous ... but the envelope became separated from
the photo. (On second thought -- given the speed at which he admits driving when he took it -- maybe he should want to
remain anonymous!) We would like him to step forward and forgive us for the delay in publishing this.   PHL
In rural communities there often are many streets which have never been graced (?) with street
signs -- or even officially named.  Locals refer to those byways with a term which identifies
some familiar or well-known feature which lies along them ... or at the end of them.  If that feature
was a building, it may be long-gone while the unofficial name remains. Modern emergency services -- EMS or Fire or Police -- dispatched to the area discovered they needed a visual way to recognize them.  Regulations have recently been passed requiring that these streets be marked with names on signs. Lo & Behold!  Towns and cities with almost no memory of having had any poorhouse are suddenly confronted with the name:  POOR HOUSE ROAD! Trust the lore on which these names are based; and go looking for (at least the record of) an old poorhouse.
 

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