A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run facility for the support and housing of dependent or needy persons, typically run by a local government entity such as a county or municipality. In Victorian times (for Britain see Poor Law and workhouse), poverty was seen as a dishonourable state caused by a lack of the moral virtue of industriousness (or industry as it was called). As was depicted by Charles Dickens, a poorhouse could resemble a reformatory and house children, either with families o… (More on Poorhouse)