Built in 1832, the Wayne County Poorhouse was eventually turned into Eloise Psychiatric Hospital and the doors of the facility remained open until approximately1981. Located in Westland, Michigan, it was a massive campus which consisted of 75-78 buildings on over 900 acres.

It had its own zip code and was quite literally a city within itself, boasting its own bakery, firehouse, commissary, dairy farm, greenhouse, post office and cemetery, among other things. At one point, the facility treated between 8,000 and 10,000 patients a day and employed 2,000 staff members.

The original poor farm became the Wayne County Alms House in 1872, and by 1886 it was simply called the Wayne County House.

In 1894, the post office was opened on the grounds and the complex was named Eloise after the postmaster’s daughter. By 1913, it became known as The Eloise Hospital with three divisions including the mental hospital, the infirmary, and the sanitorium (T.B. hospital).

It was renamed the Wayne County General Hospital and Infirmary at Eloise in 1945, and in 1974, the facility was broken down into two sections: the general hospital and the psychiatric hospital – and it remained in operation until the early 1980s.

At the beginning, the poorhouse was where those who could not care for themselves found refuge: the mentally ill, the poor, the infirm – and everyone was housed together no matter what their mental capabilities, health status, age, sex or any other distinction.

They were referred to as inmates instead of patients, and it is believed that approximately 50% of the 8,300 people living there in 1934 were mentally ill.

Over the years, stories of abuse and unsanitary conditions were widespread, including people being chained to walls and beaten, patients with tuberculosis living in close quarters with those who did not have it, and inhumane treatments being implemented, including performing lobotomies and electroshock therapy.

The Eloise cemetery is located across the street from the former complex and it is said to hold the remains of 7,000 – 8,000 people, identified with only numbered brick markers – no names.

Today, the Kay Beard building (also known as “D” building), a five-story structure consisting of 150,000 square feet, is one of the last buildings from the complex which still stands – and it is a paranormal investigator’s dream.

Records reflect that it was used for admitting and housing up to 400 psychiatric patients, and it also provided living quarters for some employees.

With its long and, at times, horrific history, it’s no wonder that many people believe this place to be extremely haunted. Death and suffering were commonplace, and that energy was surely imprinted on the property. Now you have the chance to find out for yourself if spirits of those lost are still lingering in these halls.

Once the largest psychiatric hospital in the United States, and the first facility to perform lobotomies, is now a shell of its former self.

The massive complex that virtually consisted of a self-sustaining small town with over 70 buildings no longer exists.

But some say that although most of the buildings have been razed, those who once stayed here are still in residence. And they may be ready to make themselves known to you.

Welcome to Eloise Asylum.

As soon as you walk through the doors of the Kay Beard Building (also known as “D” Building) – one of the only structures still left standing, you’ll sense the eeriness that inhabits this abandoned facility.

Formerly used for patient admissions and treatment, the halls and rooms of this 150,000 square foot building still likely harbor the energies of those who worked and lived here.

Many have reported hearing disembodied screams and moans, while others claim to witness full-body apparitions that suddenly disappear into thin air. One investigator claims that a walker suddenly appeared in the middle of a hallway that his team had just cleared minutes before.

Interactions and activity have been noted throughout the building, including on the second, third and fifth floors, and within the patient wards.

Join us to investigate the rooms where electroshock therapy and lobotomies were performed and discover the maximum-security wards which once held those deemed most insane.

With five floors and the basement to explore, you can trace the steps of other paranormal investigators and try to capture your own evidence.

Do you have the courage to take on a lone vigil somewhere within these walls?

There’s only one way to find out if you have what it takes – reserve your spot now. If you dare…