Eloise

[Techman]

Eloise Psychiatric Hospital was a large complex located in Westland, Michigan. It was named after Eloise Dickerson Davock,^[1][2][3][4] the daughter of Detroit's postmaster.

It operated from 1839 to early 1982. Starting out as a poor house and farm, it eventually developed into an asylum, sanatorium and hospital. In 1832 it was called the Wayne County Poorhouse; in 1872 it was the Wayne County Alms House; in 1886 it was referred to simply as the Wayne County House. In 1913 there were three divisions: The Eloise Hospital (Mental Hospital), the Eloise Infirmary (Poorhouse) and the Eloise Sanatorium (T.B. Hospital) which were collectively called Eloise. In 1945 it was named Wayne County General Hospital and Infirmary at Eloise, Michigan. In 1974 it had two divisions - the Wayne County General Hospital and the Wayne County Psychiatric Hospital. In 1979 it was officially called Wayne County General Hospital with the psychiatric division closing in 1982.^[5] In its prime, Eloise consisted of 78 buildings on 902 acres with 10,000 patients along with 2,000 staff. It was the largest psychiatric facility in the United States. Only five of the 78 buildings and the Eloise Cemetery remain. The firehouse, power plant, commissary and D buildings still stand as of July, 2023. The bakery was burned down due to arson in 2020.