Page 17 - Wayne Dispatch Pages

The Wayne County Poorhouse. Second County House
The History of Eloise (part 1)

This series will be a multi-part county. In 1838 the county bought position. Often their wives, kids and
complete history of the Wayne the Torbert farm from Samuel and an attendant or two would help care
County Poorhouse and Asylum, later Nancy Torbert for $800. This pur- for the inmates.
known as Eloise. As early as 1805 chase came with 160 acres of land, a In April 1839 the first 35 people
Wayne County had laws on the books barn, some animals and equipment were transferred from Detroit out to
for the relief of the poor, but this did and the Black Horse Tavern, a log the new County House, but 111 re-
not amount to much more than a lit- cabin stagecoach stop built in 1828. fused to go to the awful wilderness.
tle bread to be given out here and The county bought an additional 120 This area really was the wilderness
there to the homeless. acres, creating a large area to be back then, as Wayne only had about
Detroit had just 1,500 people and in the same room and tried to coex- used as the county house saw fit. 10 families and was the only "town"
nobody ventured inland to settle ist. By 1834 the place had become This location was bisected by the nearby. The trip also took nearly a
until the 1820s. By the 1830s how- so dirty and rundown that the local Rouge River, Chicago Road (Michi- whole day from Detroit via the
ever the population had swelled to catholic church, run by Martin gan Avenue) and the Michigan Cen- muddy and unpaved Chicago Road,
over 3,000 and the Erie Canal was Kundig, and some parishioners tral railroad, so proved to be a with many of them being forced to
bringing hundreds and later thou- stepped in to clean the place up and perfect spot. walk if they could.
sands of new settlers to the area. give some level of care. He was ap- A new two story wooden dormi- The idea to move the county
This also brought more poor, home- pointed the first superintendent and tory building was erected behind the house out to Nankin was also a re-
less, infirm and insane. did improve conditions slightly. log cabin for the inmates, and the sult of the "out of sight out of mind"
In 1832 the county authorized By the end of the decade plans cabin became the keeper’s house. attitude towards poor, disabled or in-
construction of the first "County were being made to move the county (The word "inmates" was what all sane persons at the time. People did
House" at the Northwest corner of house to a different location in the persons at the county house were not want to see beggars on the
Mt. Elliott and Gratiot Avenues in county, as Detroit was quickly grow- called, it has nothing to do with streets, so they would be rounded up
Detroit. This modest wooden two ing and the rural area the building being a prisoner as we think today) and sent to the county house. Push-
story building was separated by sex, was built in was quickly being en- The "Keeper" was an appointed ing it far outside the city ensured the
but only had a few rooms and no croached upon. Nankin Township county official, but had no medical citizens would never have to see or
beds or carers. Everybody, the poor, was selected to be the new location, or care training, they were just aver- deal with these people again. Check
homeless, insane, orphans, etc. slept as it was centrally located within the age farmers who were interested in a in next month for the continuation.

The Wayne Dispatch · July 2024 · 17