 It was closed in 2012, and the state is (as of 2017) soliciting bids for sale and reuse of the developed portions of the property.In 1854 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts acquired of land in northern Monson, on which it erected an almshouse to provide facilities for poor immigrants fleeing the Irish Potato Famine.In 1855, it was renamed the State Farm School, and later the State Primary School, and it housed children who were wards of the state.