Welcome to the Legends and Lore of Illinois

Sunset Haven – Carbondale, IL
By Michael Kleen

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Up until around the mid 1950s, people who couldn’t take care of themselves; orphans, the elderly and infirm, epileptics, and alcoholics, often found themselves on a county farm known as a “poor farm.”  A superintendent and his family would look after the residents while the residents earned their keep by farming the land, if they were able.  Most of these institutions closed down when our modern welfare system came into maturity.  The land was sold and the buildings were often turned into psychiatric hospitals or homes for the developmentally disabled.

Sometimes poorly managed, and not very profitable, those institutions frequently closed their doors and were taken over by vandals and thrill seekers.  Sunset Haven, or “Building 207” as it’s known today, is one such place.

The Jackson County Poor Farm (its original name) has a somewhat unique history.  According to Troy Taylor’s Haunted Illinois (2004), it became known as Sunset Haven during the 1940s before it was converted into a nursing home.  It was finally closed in 1957 when Southern Illinois University purchased the property to expand its agricultural program (p.42).  It then became known as the Museum Research Corporation.

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