It was the largest asylum in the country, the first to perform lobotomies. These procedures were carried out in the tunnels of the vast hospital. After it closed, in rooms off the tunnels were found vials containing bits of brains from the lobotomies, and the study of the brain.
In 1839 Michigan’s Wayne County
purchased 1000 acres of land for $800 in what was then Nankin Township (later
renamed Westland).The site was chosen because it was far away from the city. On it they built the Wayne County
Poorhouse. The first patient, Bridget
Hughes, was 16 when she was admitted in 1842; she died there in 1895.
During
the 1840’s there was no distinction made between rational and mentally ill
patients. Harsh restraints were used to separate the population. Patients of all ages, sex, idiots and the
rational were all kept huddled together. The mentally ill were
housed on the second floor of a building used to hold pigs. For the first few years, people in the surrounding areas
complained about hearing the roaring and shrieking cries of despair that was in
discord with the squealing pigs.
In 1894 it was renamed Eloise, after
the 5-year-old daughter of the County board.
A sewage plant was constructed in 1896 because the Rouge River was insufficient to carry away the nearly 80,000 gallons of sewage drained into it daily.
In 1934 the inmate population (not
patients) numbered 8,300, about 50% of
them mentally ill. People often had to bring their own mattresses in order to
be housed there. Boredom was a major
problem. Between waking and bed time the people sat and stared at the walls, at their feet and
at the windows. Inmates who were given passes to leave the rounds
were usually arrested and fined, or they simply disappeared.
Throughout its boom years, when the
complex was caring for as many as 8,000 patients daily, the facility was
plagued by reports of patient beatings, employee theft, mismanagement,
unsanitary conditions and inmates chained to walls. At one time 3,800 mental
patients -- including 300 with tuberculosis -- were crammed into quarters
designed for 2,500. As many as 125 women had to share five
toilets.
Eloise’s last patient left in 1979, and Eloise officially closed in 1981, a victim of financial problems and mental health care reform. Wayne County sold most of Eloise's grounds to the Ford Motor Company and their developers. A radio control aeromodeling club uses some of the land, and the cemetery is located behind their gate. In that cemetery are the graves of between 7,000-8,000 people; their markers are a brick stone containing only a number.
It was a formable place; during its
decaying and demolition period, the curious and workers at the site were
convinced that the dead weep and walk within those wretched grounds.
Maybe they still do – behind the cemetery fence.
Great information.
ReplyDeleteGreat information.
ReplyDeleteAre you from the Detroit area? If so you would never forget the place.
ReplyDeleteI was in "Wayne County General" for six weeks in 1974. It was awful. Because of them, I'm crippled for life.
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DeleteI am so sorryðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
DeleteMy mom was born there. My grandma was in there. I'm trying to find info on my grandma
ReplyDeleteInteresting, but where did you get your information? It is well known in the 1920's there were 10,000 inmate w/2,000 staff.
ReplyDeleteI read the book ELoise. It is rather long, but filled with lots of info. I also read everything I could get on it. Research is vital for writing anything well.
DeleteI used to get my school shots there when I was a little boy .Sometimes the schools would cancel recess because a patient would escape.. Yeah we was pissed lol
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DeleteThat’s interesting. By the way I just watched the movie on it and it was very impressive and well scripted
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I'm very sorry on your diagnosis but. I do not see how it has much to do with Eloise. It looks more like an advertisement.
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