Almshouse

Alms is an old English word for charity, so an almshouse was a house for people living on charity. In the United States it was used side by side with poorhouse for the same kind of institution, run by a town, city or county.

Some city almshouses grew very large. Bellevue Almshouse in New York City and the Cook County Almshouse in Chicago later became public hospitals. Massachusetts and Rhode Island also ran state almshouses, the best known at Tewksbury. Smaller town almshouses might hold only ten or twelve people under a keeper and his wife.