The land belonged to Thomas Mifflin, 1st. Governor of Pennsylvania. His Plantation was called: Angelica.
In the early days when no hospital was available, people were sent to the "County House" or the "Poor House" to be cared for. People with infectious diseases were sent there as well as old people who were senile, and of course "poor people".
Dead were also brought there it be buried. Not all that died in the Alms House were buried there. Some were taken away by their families.
A person whose death occured in the Alms House was not necessabily a "pauper."
The Alms House also served as a prison.
The 1st. year, 130 people were housed. In 1878, 1,630 were housed.
The land is now part of Governor Mifflin School and the Kenhorst Plaza, along with private homes.
On July 30, 2000, I went to the Kenhorst Plaza. I found evedence of burials in the parking lot and also in a field acorss the way. Also in the parking lot at Governor Mifflin School. A complex that large, and the death rate per day and year, they had to have more than one cemetery.
This painting can be viewed at the Berks County Historical Society.