Les Anciens Abris pour Indigents

In the mid-19th century, France was going through a period of great poverty. Landless peasants scoured the countryside in search of work.
They often asked farmers to let them sleep in their barns, but they often set fires and were very noisy, disturbing the neighbors.
It was between 1850 and 1920 that the communes decided to build or provide a place to house all these people. This was a way of keeping an eye on them and getting to know them better.
These shelters for the destitute can still be found in communes in the Fismes region.