Discuss Detroit » Archives - Beginning January 2007 » Mental hospital « Previous Next »
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Nextstopbroadway
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Username: Nextstopbroadway

Post Number: 2
Registered: 01-2007
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 11:58 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My cousin use to tell me about an old mental hospital that was in detroit that had a bunch of underground tunnels, he went into them once a while back but he told me it was torn down a while ago. plus he said it was very dangerous to go down there. does anyone know what hospital this was, im looking for any info possible.
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Gannon
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Username: Gannon

Post Number: 7871
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 12:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

That would either be the old Eloise complex on Michigan Avenue in Westland or Canton...near Ypsilanti...or even that facility in Northville off of Seven Mile Road.

I'd bet they were talking about Eloise.
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Thnk2mch
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Username: Thnk2mch

Post Number: 650
Registered: 02-2006
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 12:11 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Probably Northville

Try this

http://www.northville-tunnels. com/
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Johnlodge
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Username: Johnlodge

Post Number: 22
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 12:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I believe he was probably talking about the Northville Tunnels. It was some form of mental hospital or "School For Feeble MInded Children", as they used to say. When I was younger a lot of my friends would go exploring there. The police hated it and would try to catch anybody sneaking in. They always had fun stories about it, but I think it's been completely demolished now.
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Nainrouge
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Username: Nainrouge

Post Number: 141
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 12:22 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think you all are confusing the Wayne County training school with Northville Psychiatric Hospital.

The Wayne County Training School has been demolished.

Report on Northville Psychiatric:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060301/METRO/603010339/1003

(Message edited by nainrouge on January 18, 2007)
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Johnlodge
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Username: Johnlodge

Post Number: 23
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 12:26 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Well I know for sure the Northville Hospital had tunnels that kids loved to go exploring in. Not sure which he's talking about or if its still around though.
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Charlottepaul
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Username: Charlottepaul

Post Number: 264
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 12:38 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There was too that state hospital up near Pontiac...
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Nextstopbroadway
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Username: Nextstopbroadway

Post Number: 3
Registered: 01-2007
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 12:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

i think i was the Eloise complex, i talked to my cousin and he said he didn't think it was northville because he knew for sure that it was torn down. is it true that several mental hospitals that closed in detroit had to just let the people go? and with no family to take care of them, they were just sent out onto the streets? sorry for all the questions, i just moved to detroit a few months ago and i am VERY intrested in alot of the histroy here.
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Cambrian
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Username: Cambrian

Post Number: 515
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 1:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Don't know if Eloise had the elaborate network of tunnels that Wayne County School for feeble minded children had at 5 and Sheldon. I went there frequently between '87 and '91. The northville tunnels site above is for that location.
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Schoolcraft
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Username: Schoolcraft

Post Number: 81
Registered: 07-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 1:08 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

If it was detroit...Could it be Herman Kiefer?
That inside was cool.
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Reetz12
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Username: Reetz12

Post Number: 123
Registered: 09-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 3:12 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Growing up, driving out to Northville Tunnels from the eastside felt like a long road trip, plus we were not familiar with freeways, made for an interesting night of mischief, but always memorable.
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Detroitteacher
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Username: Detroitteacher

Post Number: 888
Registered: 06-2006
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 5:47 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Northville isn't torn down, yet...and if it is, it was very recent. I explored the Northville Psych tunnels when in High School(I guess it was a rite of passage). Never did damage, just spooked everyone out. I don't think Eloise had tunnels that anyone could get into.
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Blaw82
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Username: Blaw82

Post Number: 129
Registered: 02-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 6:11 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Does Northville still have a security guard sitting out front? Me and my friend tried to get into that place but couldn't due to survellence.
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Gannon
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Username: Gannon

Post Number: 7882
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 6:26 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

You actually tried going in through the front door...
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Blaw82
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Username: Blaw82

Post Number: 130
Registered: 02-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 6:28 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

No, no, no. I simply was going to pull into the parking lot and there was a security guard,in a car, just sitting there. Then someone told me that the place is pretty much on lockdown.
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Gannon
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Username: Gannon

Post Number: 7883
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 6:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Heh, yeah.

The Northville cops'll even stop a group of people walking around near there...it's been a draw for too long.

Creepy place to have a right of passage...Eloise was similar to those who lived further west...wonder what the appeal was towards mass housings of human insanity?!


ALL of the complexes built around this time have utility tunnels, btw. Between some Catholic installations miles apart in the city there are tunnels, from what I've heard.


I wouldn't be surprised to find some underneath this old Fire Department Maintenance facility.
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Charlottepaul
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Username: Charlottepaul

Post Number: 268
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 7:07 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Speaking of Catholic institutions and tunnels, Detroit Mercy has a nice little network of them.
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Detroitteacher
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Username: Detroitteacher

Post Number: 889
Registered: 06-2006
Posted on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 9:24 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The tunnels of Northville were said to be haunted. That was the draw for us.
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Silverbeauty
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Username: Silverbeauty

Post Number: 22
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007 - 7:43 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

yes there still is security. Dont drive in the driveway if you want to sneak in. You have to park at schoolcraft college and walk through the woods to get in.
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Lowell
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Username: Lowell

Post Number: 3580
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007 - 9:15 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


Northville Psych

You can see the security car [white] to the right of the light pole. I walked over to it to ask if I could take pictures, but it was empty. There was no one in what looked like a small office area where the car was parked either so I continued on.... I saw no one, but plenty of evidence that others had visited the premises.
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Silverbeauty
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Username: Silverbeauty

Post Number: 23
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007 - 12:10 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Did anybody see this fox2 news report on the northville tunnels?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=aFT KYLQdGi0

it ran back in April
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Mattric43
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Username: Mattric43

Post Number: 107
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007 - 12:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

When was the last time you went over there Lowell? I was by there a few months ago and I know there is still a guy on a four wheeler that patrols around the area.
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Jimaz
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Username: Jimaz

Post Number: 1388
Registered: 12-2005
Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007 - 1:00 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Silverbeauty, thanks. I had not seen that footage.

I think they're exaggerating the danger. Teens will take risks whether it's skydiving, mountain climbing or this.

On the other hand, the state has to limit its liability. Maybe they should shut off the power, at least.
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Carolcb
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Username: Carolcb

Post Number: 19
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007 - 1:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I grew up about 3 miles from Eloise. We accepted it for what it was - we used to go there with the schools and sing to entertain them. People sat outside behind the fence..... the grounds at that time were really well-cared for!
You have to remember, a lot of those people now end up in jail or on the street. Eloise served a purpose - at some point throughout this country it was decided we were not going to pay for these people to be taken care of by the state or the county in this setting.
But no - to my knowledge, there were never any tunnels under Eloise.
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Charlottepaul
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Username: Charlottepaul

Post Number: 284
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007 - 9:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Mattric43, when was the last time that you were at the Northville Hospital? Just the other night as I was driving by I saw nurse wheeling a patient in in a wheelchair at the side door.
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Gannon
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Username: Gannon

Post Number: 7927
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Friday, January 19, 2007 - 10:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Crafty Urban Spelunkers with a few old Halloween outfits.

Either that, or you saw the ghosts everyone says haunt the place.
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Mattric43
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Username: Mattric43

Post Number: 108
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 12:58 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Uh Charlottepaul, I think we are talking about a different place. I'm talking about the hospital in Lowell's picture above.
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Pamequus
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Username: Pamequus

Post Number: 95
Registered: 07-2005
Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 1:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Carolcb....Thank the ACLU for the closing of many of the mental hospitals via suits brought against the various states alleging violation of constitutional rights. For example, being held against their will, medicated against their will, their right to live as they wished. Of course, these suits were brought without regard for the individual who was ill or impaired and needed the facility. The hospitals weren't perfect but they were a whole lot better than sleeping in cardboard boxes, being murdered for their bottle of wine, etc.

Unfortunately, I was involved in one such suit and it was very sad to say the least. The result was the facility was closed and the patients transfered to other state facilities resulting in overcrowding. Many patients were deemed able to live on their own and discharged and many ended up living on the street.

The state simply could not afford to continue the litigation and the resulting law suits from patients and their families who were now suing because they were being injured, poorly medicated, even committing suicide as a result of the relaxed rules deemed unconstitutional.

There should be a happy medium somewhere.
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Karenk
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Username: Karenk

Post Number: 21
Registered: 07-2006
Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 2:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Wasn't the "Home" in Northville called 'Mayberry'? For a time it was a TB sanitarium-or maybe it always was. I remember driving by as a kid to my Aunt's farm in South Lyon.
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Cambrian
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Username: Cambrian

Post Number: 526
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 2:20 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There was a saniterium on the grounds of what is now Maybury State Park.
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Carolcb
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Username: Carolcb

Post Number: 21
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 - 2:29 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks Pamequus - we can say a "but for the grace of God......"
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Karenk
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Username: Karenk

Post Number: 22
Registered: 07-2006
Posted on Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 5:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Eloise Mental Hospital on Michigan Avenue Wayne County, Michigan

The museum is at 30712 Michigan Ave., open 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. To join the Friends of Eloise, call 734-727-7373 during the same hours.

At its peak, during the Great Depression, the 903-acre Eloise compound was one of the largest mental hospitals in the country, serving more than 10,000 patients. It had its own post office, livestock and tobacco field. Some residents were indigent, others suffered from tuberculosis. Across the street, more than 7,100 Eloise residents are buried in a potter's field with only numbers to mark their graves. (freep.com 12/8/2000)

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