Page 14 - Wayne Dispatch Pages

The history of Eloise continued (part 6)

This is part 6 of a multi-part his-
tory of the Wayne County Poorhouse
and Asylum, commonly known as
Eloise. As we go into the 1920s
Eloise experiences a population ex-
plosion, just like Detroit at the time.
The auto industry was booming, peo-
ple were moving to Wayne County for
work from all over the US, and the
population was growing 20% per the time.
year. The population of Wayne dou- In 1924 a new power plant was
bled, Dearborn quadrupled. With built, which still survives today in an
this also brought more poor folks, abandoned state. Interestingly they
and more folks with mental illness. had to build this building over top of
To cope with this huge influx of the old power and steam plant with-
new patients 5 new buildings were out shutting down the old ones,
built on the corner of Michigan Av- quite a feat. The roaring 20s were
enue and Merriman, buildings I, J, going great until 1929, when the US The corner of Michigan and Merriman, showing Buildings I,J,K,L,and M.
K, L, and M. These were all mental stock market crashed. Tens of thou- marble and was built in just a few As stated earlier in this series, if
patient wards, and were there until sands lost their jobs, savings, and months. The building was novel for you were in the poorhouse and phys-
the facility closed, there is a Kroger houses. Being the county poorhouse, having a 200-gallon coffee urn and ically able, you worked 4-6 hours a
there now. In the 20s we also had ad- thousands showed up at the piping in the ceiling to distribute cof- day doing farm work, cleaning, main-
vancing treatments for mental ill- doorstep of Eloise. fee across the building. In the poor- tenance or whatever needed done. In
nesses, some of the first In an emergency move to house house the sexes were segregated, 1933 at the height of the depression
pharmaceuticals came online, and all these new people in the poor- and you would be in a long dorm there were 7,441 people in the poor-
new therapies such as Insulin shock, house, N Building was built. This room with 50-100 men or women. house, around 2,600 in the mental
Electric shock, hypnosis, and many building was a massive 382,000 The facility had doctors and dentists wards, and a few hundred staff. So
others. Although considered out- square feet over 10 acres and could you could see, they would give you there were over 10,000 people living
dated today, these techniques were house 2,000 people. Remarkably the clothes and shoes, and you got three and working there, it truly was its
the cutting edge of medical theory at building used the entire US supply of meals a day. own city.

14 · December 2024 · The Wayne Dispatch