Eloise

In 1839 Wayne County purchased the Black Horse Tavern, a stagecoach stop, located here on the Chicago Road, for use as a poorhouse. Early on the poorhouse accepted not only the county’s indigent, but the infirm and mentally ill as well. During the late nineteenth century, the number or residents grew, and new buildings were constructed to meet the demand. In 1894 a post office opened on the grounds with the name Eloise, a name that became synonymous with what developed into a 902-acre, 75-building complex. By the late 1920s Eloise’s population had peaked at 10,000 patients and 2,000 staff. A city in itself, Eloise had its own farm, cannery, bakery, cemetery, employee housing, police and fire departments, trolley and train stations, and 16 kitchens that served 30,000 meals daily.

[Back]: Wayne County’s medical complex, “Eloise”, was founded as a poorhouse in 1839. It eventually became one of the largest public health-care facilities in the U.S. The most advanced medical and psychiatric treatments were used here. During the early twentieth century Eloise physicians pioneered the use of X-rays for diagnostic purposes, radium for the treatment of cancer, and “open air” treatment for tuberculosis. Psychiatric patients underwent electroshock and insulin shock therapy, as well as music, recreational, and television therapy. Psychiatric care ended in 1979, and the general hospital closed in 1984. Most of the complex’s 75 buildings were razed by the mid-1980s. More than 7,100 patients are buried in the Eloise cemetery, their graves marked only by numbered blocks.