What happened to the Poor Farm Cemetery?

While researching local haunted places to write about, I kept finding references to people being buried in the Poor Farm Cemetery in Roy, Utah.  The strange part was that I’m very familiar with the cemeteries in this area and I had never heard of the Poor Farm Cemetery before. Most of the mentions of burials at the Poor Farm were of older people with no family to care for them. There were also mentions of people who got sick and died while passing through town. The poor farm was also sometimes used as a pest house in the late 1800s.

Intrigued, I started to see what I could find about the Poor Farm. I wanted to know where it was located, what happened to it, and where the cemetery is. At first, I didn’t find much information. It took quite a bit of research to piece together the history of the Poor Farm. Utah has a great website that will help you find where people are buried, or allow you to browse cemeteries by location. Possibly because this database is still being updated, I wasn’t able to find any information on the Poor Farm Cemetery until just recently.

Uncovering the Lost Poor Farm Cemetery

I found it listed under the Poor House Cemetery and there’s not much information given. The lack of information is strange for a few reasons. Usually, this website will list an address and dates of when the cemetery officially opened, as well as first and last burial. As you can see below, there’s little to no information given, and the cemetery status is listed as abandoned.

History of the Poor Farm

Before we get to what happened to the Poor Farm Cemetery in Roy, Utah, I want to give some background on the Poor Farm because it’s pretty impressive. The Poor Farm, which was the nickname for the Weber County Infirmary, was located near 2700 W & 5600 S in Roy, Utah. It was originally built in 1888, and it was a small structure created to care for the sick, poor, and older adults who had no means to care for themselves.

The Poor Farm occupied a large piece of land, allowing it to be somewhat self-sufficient. Residents grew fruits and vegetables and raised cows and chickens. At the time, people called them inmates rather than patients or residents. They worked on the farm as much as their abilities allowed in exchange for lodging and care.

In 1921, a 70-year-old resident of the poor farm, Charles Reed, started a fire with his pipe that destroyed a good portion of the building. Instead of fully demolishing the building, it was decided to remodel the old building, adding on much-needed space. In January 1922, the “new” Weber County Infirmary was completed.

Weber County’s New Infirmary

In 1956, Weber County officials decided to build a new, modern facility. By 1958, construction had begun on the new county infirmary. They changed its name to the Weber County Chronic Disease Hospital. (Weber County later changed the name to Weber Memorial Hospital). The new hospital stands directly behind the original Poor Farm house, as shown in the picture below. The new hospital opened to patients in April 1960, and the building remains in use to this day as an assisted living facility.

What Happened to the Cemetery?

Given its history, it’s not surprising that there were many deaths at the Poor Farm. Most of the deaths were due to natural causes such as old age or illness. There were also a few pretty unusual deaths that occurred here.

I can’t quite figure out why officials buried some people in the Poor Farm Cemetery in Roy, Utah, while others went to the city cemetery in Ogden. I assume they buried most here because the deceased had no money or family in the area. It would have been simply easier to bury them here. For many of those buried here, this was their final resting place not by choice, but because they had nowhere else to go. Their names and stories, largely forgotten, remain buried along with them.

A Murderer Among the Forgotten Dead

One killer lies buried here, tied to 25th Street and Electric Alley in a fascinating way. I will share his story in a future post.

Due to the lack of surviving records, it’s difficult to piece together the stories of those buried here. From what very few records survived it appears that most burials took place from 1888 until approximately 1906. When I first wrote this post in 2017, the state burial database listed 25 interments at this cemetery. As of 2024, that number has changed to 24, though records remain incomplete. Interestingly, the new listing now includes burial coordinates and an excerpt from The Dead History. However, critical details such as the first and latest burials remain unknown. The state still lists the site as abandoned and has made no formal efforts to preserve it.

I’ve found a few newspaper mentions of funerals at the Poor Farm Cemetery that aren’t in the state burial database. Weber County’s death and burial records before 1905 remain incomplete and inconsistent. There appear to be no surviving records from the Poor Farm — at least none that I’ve been able to locate.

The Mystery of the 1980 Dedication Plaque

Here is where things get even stranger. After Weber Memorial Hospital replaced the old Poor Farm, developers began selling off the surrounding land. In 1980, officials placed a dedication plaque at the old cemetery and held a ceremony. They discussed plans to preserve the Poor Farm Cemetery. Despite discussions of preservation, officials sold the land and developers built houses around the old Poor Farm site. They later relocated the dedication plaque, originally meant to mark the cemetery, to its current spot just west of the Roy Public Works building. The graves remained undisturbed beneath the new neighborhood.

No one moved the graves at the Poor Farm Cemetery. Let me say that again—no one relocated the remains of the 25 to 30 people buried there. According to a local genealogist friend, developers built houses directly over the cemetery.
Perhaps the land itself remembers. Perhaps the silence of those buried beneath the neighborhood speaks louder than any plaque ever could.

Poor Farm Cemetery Location

North of the old Weber Memorial Hospital, a fenced-off, undeveloped square of land stretches east of the corner of 5200 S 2700 W. It sits behind houses and belongs to the Utah Transit Authority, which isn’t unusual since railroad tracks run along the entire east side of the old Poor Farm land. This area is surrounded by more undeveloped UTA property. What stands out, however, is a small, rectangular strip of city-owned land leading east from 2700 W. It almost looks like a remnant of the old path to the cemetery.

Did developers build houses over the old Poor Farm Cemetery? I can’t say for certain, but it seems highly likely. I still don’t understand why the city chose not to preserve the cemetery. Did city or county officials decide to abandon the cemetery because they deemed it too forgotten to be worth saving? Setting aside the land wouldn’t have cost much.

I can see why the developer ignored the graves and built over them. Without clear records, identifying and relocating every burial would have been difficult and expensive. As a result, the Poor Farm Cemetery remains in its original location. No one may ever know the exact location or the number of people buried there.