Ray County Poor Farm

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

From the record

“Ray County Poor Farm, also known as Ray County Historical Society and Museum, is a historic poor farm located at Richmond, Ray County, Missouri. It was built in 1909-1910, and is a two-story, Y-shaped brick building encompassing contains approximately 14,400 square feet of space.”
Wikipedia article Ray County Poor Farm, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 6 National Register listings published here for Ray County · listed in 1979 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. W. Royale St., Richmond, 64085
When was it listed? July 1979
Category. building
Township. Richmond township
National Register reference number. 79001394 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

What happened here

An account from the chapter on Richmond township. The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.

From History of Ray County, Mo., published 1881 - Richmond Township

A Terrible Cyclone

On June 1, A. D. 1878, the city of Richmond was visited by one of the most violent and destructive cyclones that ever passed over this section of the country. Nearly every thing in its pathway was utterly demolished. Huge trees were torn up by the roots, buildings swept away, and human and animal life destroyed.

Read the rest of this passage

The ground it stands on

31,040 words

The chapter on Richmond Township in History of Ray County, Mo., published 1881 names Richmond. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

On the 20th and 21st of August following, the election was duly held, and resulted in one hundred and eight votes being cast for the proposition and fifty-five against it; and in due course of time, as already fully stated, the county seat was removed, and public buildings erected, etc. Hence, Richmond owes its existence to the fact of the land on which the original town is located having been selected first by commisioners, and then by a majority of the qualified voters of the county as a site for the permanent seat of justice of the county of Ray.

Passage source: History of Ray County, Mo., published 1881.

Richmond was surveyed and laid out into blocks, lots, streets and alleys by Thomas N. Aubry, Esq., under the direction of William S. Miller, commissioner of the seat of justice, between the 24th of September and the 15th of October, A. D. 1827.

Passage source: History of Ray County, Mo., published 1881.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Richmond Township - 31,040 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 18 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 18 workings within 5 miles of Ray County Poor Farm: 17 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status
Belt Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Case Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Clevanger Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Ee Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Garner Qsuarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unknown Ls	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unknown Ls	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unknown Ls	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unknown Ls	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unknown Ls	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Ray County

Storms near this property

60 of 62 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Richmond, the town this property stands in, in 62 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 29 thunderstorm wind, 22 hail, 7 flash flood, 2 lightning. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
August 1993	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	$500,000	A local newspaper reported downed trees and power lines. Half of the bleacher seats at the high school football field were ripped out of place and left twisted on the field. A 75-foot-hole was also torn in the ceiling of a Wal-Mart store.
September 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	$200,000	Thunderstorm winds tore off a 60-by-100 foot section of the roof at Richmond High School.
October 1998	Flash Flood	Richmond	$100,000	no account filed
April 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	$20,000	Barn blown down
April 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	$10,000	Barn roof and parts of the barns sides blown about 150 yards. Pieces of the barn hit and damaged a house nearby.
May 1997	Lightning	Richmond	$10,000	Lightning struck a power line which carries a surge of electricity into a a Richmond home during a thunderstorm. The electrical surge sparked a fire which resulted in about 10,000 dollars in damage to the home. No one was injured in the fire.
August 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	$5,000	Numerous trees were downed in Richmond. At least one tree fell on a car.
March 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	Downed tree at a residence in Richmond.
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	Downed tree limbs on the road in Richmond. Power was reported to be out in town.
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	Downed wires near Route T near Richmond.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	Social media report and photos of trees down on St. Cloud Road.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	Downed wires and power outages near Cunningham Street.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	Downed wires and power outages near Daugherty Road.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	Downed wires and power outages near Valley View Drive.
June 2023	Hail	Richmond	-	Quarter sized hail was reported in central Richmond.
June 2023	Hail	Richmond	-	Golf ball sized hail was reported at the Shirkey Golf Course on the southeast side of Richmond.
September 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	This report came from MPing. Very minor damage occurred at this location.
June 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	Richmond police reported damage to a shed with debris spread across parts of South Street near Highway 13.
July 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	There was some damage to trees of unknown size and condition in Richmond.
June 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	A large tree of unknown size and condition was down near Richmond.
March 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	A swath of wind around 80 to 90 mph affected areas in and around Richmond. A center point irrigation system was toppled over southwest of the city. Inside Richmond several trees were snapped as well as power poles. Several outbuildings were destroyed and several residences in the city sustained slightly more than cosmetic damage. The narrow and localized swath was consistent with a possible mesovortex, but the debris strewn generally unidirectional down stream from the source of the damage indicated straight line winds.
May 2016	Hail	Richmond	-	This report was gathered via social media.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	Power lines were blown down in the city of Richmond.
June 2015	Flash Flood	Richmond	-	Flash flooding was ongoing between Richmond and the Crooked River.
October 2014	Flash Flood	Richmond	-	Manhole covers were being lifted by the force of the water coming up from the storm drains.
August 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated up to 60 mph. Tree limbs up to 3 inches in diameter were snapped off.
July 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	Numerous trees were reported down.
July 2008	Heavy Rain	Richmond	-	Five inches of rain was measured in the past 24 hours.
July 2008	Flash Flood	Richmond	-	Water was reported over the road at the intersection of Highway 10 and Business 10.
December 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	Wind gusts caused a mailbox pole to bend.
March 2008	Flood	Richmond	-	The Crooked River near Richmond crested at 20.98 feet, or 0.98 feet above flood stage.
May 2007	Flash Flood	Richmond	-	Numerous reports of county roads flooded due to the heavy rains. Lexington Street near Wellington closed.
June 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	Tree limbs up to 5 inches in diameter reported down.
August 2004	Flash Flood	Richmond	-	Water covering city streets in Richmond.
August 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	An amateur radio operator reported 70 mph wind gusts.
August 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	Large tree limbs and power lines were downed.
June 1998	Lightning	Richmond	-	Lightning during a thunderstorm knocked out the power to the City of Richmond's wells. The Mayor of Richmond was forced to temporarily order the closing of laundromats and car washes until the 60-horsepower motor and water pressure were restored.
June 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	The Ray County Sheriff's Office reported 2 to 3 inch tree limbs blown down as a result of thunderstorm winds.
June 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	Thunderstorm winds blew down 4 inch diameter tree limbs in Richmond.
July 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	Severe thunderstorm winds were reported to gust to 60 mph three miles south of Richmond.
April 2016	Hail	Richmond	-	no account filed
April 2015	Hail	Richmond	-	no account filed
May 2014	Hail	Richmond	-	no account filed
April 2011	Hail	Richmond	-	no account filed
June 2009	Hail	Richmond	-	no account filed
April 2008	Hail	Richmond	-	no account filed
June 2008	Hail	Richmond	-	no account filed
June 2008	Hail	Richmond	-	no account filed
June 2007	Hail	Richmond	-	no account filed
February 2007	Hail	Richmond	-	no account filed
March 2006	Hail	Richmond	-	no account filed
June 2006	Hail	Richmond	-	no account filed
February 2003	Hail	Richmond	-	no account filed
May 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	no account filed
May 2003	Hail	Richmond	-	no account filed
May 2003	Hail	Richmond	-	no account filed
June 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Richmond	-	no account filed
August 2001	Hail	Richmond	-	no account filed
August 2000	Hail	Richmond	-	no account filed
July 1996	Flash Flood	Richmond	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Ray County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

4 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Watkins House	0.6 miles	1983
Dougherty Auditorium	0.6 miles	1982
Ray County Courthouse	0.8 miles	1979
New Hope Primitive Baptist Church	3.3 miles	1980

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 79001394 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Ray County	All 6 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.