The Almshouse Farm at Machipongois located in rural Northampton County off US Route 13 on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. is a complex of five buildings dating from the early 19th to the early 20th century. The nearly 18-acre site was used continuously as an almshouse farm between 1803 and 1952. The oldest structure is the “Quarter Kitchen,” built ca. 1804, with a wood-frame section added in 1844. A simple vernacular Greek Revival two-story building was constructed about 1883 as the almshouse, with eight rooms on the first floor and 13 “guestrooms” on the second floor. In 1910, a single-story frame building with 10 guestrooms was built to serve as a poorhouse for African Americans. There are also two historic sheds on the Almshouse Farm at Machipongo property. While most almshouses were closed throughout the state by the 1920s, Northampton County’s remained open until 1946. The property currently operates as the Barrier Islands Center museum and is open to the public.

The Almshouse Farm at Machipongo in Northampton County was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. This additional documentation more precisely delineates the period of significance based on information discovered during more recent research and provides additional justification for the significance of the property. The additional documentation focuses on the African American and potential Native American history associated with the Almshouse, as well as the early 19th-century practice of “binding out” children in impoverished families. The period of significance begins in 1802, when the first almshouse was constructed on the property, and ends in 1946 when the almshouse closed.
[NRHP Approved 7/31/2024]