Down a ways on Dobie Road in Okemos is a little graveyard, called the Ingham County Home Cemetery, or affectionately called the "Poor Farm" Cemetery.

The cemetery was used to bury folks who lived in the Ingham County Poor Farm and weren't able to take care of themselves or afford their own funerals or burials. Upon walking around the stones, you'll notice that most of the dates on the tombstones are from the late 1800's to the 1940's. Some of the bodies of "poor farm" residents who weren't buried in the graveyard were actually sold and used for research.

The original Ingham County Poor Farm was founded in 1844 and moved in 1878 to the present site of the Ingham County Medical Care Facility, just a few feet north of the cemetery.

It's fairly easy to have missed seeing this tiny cemetery, and many of us don't even travel down that section of Dobie Road. If you intend to visit, there are benches where you can sit, reflect, and soak up the atmosphere. There's also handy walkways on both sides of the road.

An historical marker greets visitors.

As always, treat cemeteries with respect: don't vandalize, litter, be obnoxious or print graffiti; don't ruin it for others.