Haunted places guide · Westland, near Detroit, Michigan
Eloise Asylum, Westland: History, Ghosts and Paranormal Tours
For nearly 150 years Wayne County sent its poor, its sick and its mentally ill to one sprawling campus west of Detroit. Most of Eloise is gone, but its last great building now hosts history tours, a haunted attraction and some of Michigan’s most popular paranormal nights.
Eloise was Wayne County’s poorhouse, asylum, sanatorium and general hospital, all on one campus on Michigan Avenue in what is now Westland, about 20 miles west of downtown Detroit. At its Depression-era peak about 10,000 people lived there, and it ran like a town, with its own farm, railroad, police, fire department and post office.
Most of it was torn down after the hospitals closed in the 1980s. The five-story Kay Beard Building survived, and it is now home to the Eloise Asylum haunted attraction, history tours and public paranormal investigations. That use is controversial with some patients’ families. Here is the real history of Eloise, the stories told about it, and how to visit with respect.
Eloise at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 30712 Michigan Ave, Westland, MI 48186 (Kay Beard Building)
- Founded 1832 as the Wayne County Poor House; moved to this site in 1839
- Closed Psychiatric hospital wound down 1977 to 1982; general hospital closed 1986
- What remains The Kay Beard Building, the commissary, the firehouse shell and a cemetery
- Reported activity Touches, grabs, voices and whistles on the upper floors; figures at windows
- Ghost hunting Public paranormal tours run by the venue
History of Eloise
The Wayne County Poor House was founded in 1832 at Gratiot and Mount Elliott in Hamtramck Township. In 1834 the county bought 280 acres in rural Nankin Township, and in 1839 it moved 35 residents to the new site on the Detroit to Chicago road. Over the next century the poorhouse grew an asylum, a tuberculosis sanatorium and a general hospital, and by 1913 the whole complex was known as Eloise, after Eloise Dickerson Davock, daughter of Detroit’s postmaster, because the post office needed a name.
At its height Eloise covered 902 acres with about 75 buildings. It was self-sufficient: it ran a farm and dairy, a bakery, a cannery, a laundry, a power plant, its own police and fire departments, a railroad and trolley stop, and a post office. During the Great Depression about 10,000 people lived there. It was a teaching hospital, it housed Michigan’s first kidney dialysis unit, and it pioneered music therapy. It also used hydrotherapy, shock and insulin treatments and, as WWJ notes, lobotomies.
The farm stopped in 1958. Large psychiatric buildings were emptied from 1973, the psychiatric division began closing in 1977, and the State of Michigan took over in 1982, when the last patients were moved out. The Walter P. Reuther Psychiatric Hospital opened on part of the land in 1979, and Wayne County General Hospital closed in 1986.
Most of Eloise was then demolished, and the land became a strip mall, a golf course and condominiums. The smokestack came down in 2006, the bakery burned in 2016, and the power plant is slated for demolition. The D Building, renamed the Kay Beard Building, held 400 psychiatric admissions in its day and served as Wayne County offices until 2016. The commissary is a family homeless shelter, and the firehouse shell has been restored for storage.
Thousands of patients were buried in a burial ground nearby. Local groups, including the Friends of Eloise, are working to identify them, a reminder of who actually lived and died here.
The ghosts of Eloise
The upper floors
Paranormal tours concentrate on the upper floors of the Kay Beard Building, where patients were treated. Justin Cox of Michighost Paranormal, who leads investigations there, told the Associated Press in 2026 that guests get touched, grabbed and whistled at and find handprints on their clothing. A member of the attraction’s staff said the upper floors feel alive.
Faces at the windows
Long before the tours, people driving Michigan Avenue said they saw former patients standing at the broken windows of the empty buildings, looking out. Older guides also describe a man in modern clothes sitting on a staircase who vanishes. These are classic abandoned-building stories, and none is documented.
The hydrotherapy room
One room on the tour still holds a hydrotherapy tub of the kind used on patients, and the AP reported that it is not uncommon for guests to climb in. Many investigators consider it the most charged room in the building.
The rumors
Eloise has attracted urban legends: jars of body parts and strange patient photographs supposedly found when buildings were cleared, and grim tales of patients housed above pig barns. Some have roots in real conditions, many do not, and we could not confirm any of them. The 2017 horror film Eloise and the 2023 TV episode Expedition X: Ghosts of Eloise Asylum have spread the stories further.
Where to look
- The upper floors of the Kay Beard Building: where patients were treated and where most tour reports come from.
- The hydrotherapy room: with its original tub.
- The basement: included on paranormal tours.
- The Eloise cemetery: visit quietly by day; the people buried there are the real story.
Visiting Eloise
The Kay Beard Building is at 30712 Michigan Avenue in Westland, about 30 minutes west of downtown Detroit and close to Detroit Metro Airport. It is privately run, and you visit on a booked ticket. Its website lists a three-hour history tour of the building and grounds with a presentation, public paranormal investigation tours on most Saturday evenings and some Fridays, where guests can use the venue’s equipment or bring their own, and escape rooms. The 54,000-square-foot Eloise Asylum haunted attraction opens each year in late September and runs through Halloween.
Prices are on the ticket pages and change by event; Metro Times reported $65 for paranormal and historic tours when they first opened. Book ahead for October weekends.
Remember that Eloise was home to real people, many of them buried nearby, and some of their families object to paying ghost entertainment here. If you go, start with the history tour, treat the building with respect, and leave the cemetery as you found it. For a ghost hunt run by Haunted Rooms, our nearest is Mortuary Manor in Toledo, a former funeral home about an hour south.
- Visiting Privately run tours and attractions in the Kay Beard Building
- Tours History tours of about three hours; paranormal tours most Saturdays and some Fridays
- Hours and season The haunted attraction runs from late September through Halloween
- Ghost hunting Yes: public paranormal investigation tours run by the venue
Tips for your visit
- Do the history tour first; it makes the paranormal night mean more.
- Book October nights well ahead; the haunted attraction draws crowds.
- Visit the cemetery by day and quietly.
Go ghost hunting nearby
Visiting a haunted place by day is one thing. Investigating one after dark is another. On a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt our team takes you through a historic building with professional ghost hunting equipment, runs EVP sessions and vigils, and gives you time to explore on your own. These are the nearest ones we run.
- Mortuary Manor Ghost Hunt, Toledo: investigate a former north Toledo funeral home with its embalming rooms, basement morgue and viewing parlors still in place.
- Haunted Hinsdale House Ghost Hunt, Hinsdale, NY: a farmhouse just over the New York line with one of the region’s best-known haunted reputations.
- Haunted Cresson Sanatorium and Prison Ghost Hunt: a former tuberculosis sanatorium and state prison on a mountaintop near Altoona, with its tunnels and cell blocks.
More haunted places nearby
- The Detroit Masonic Temple: Detroit’s most famous haunted building
- The Henry, Dearborn: a hotel with a haunted suite, 15 minutes east
- Traverse City State Hospital: Michigan’s other great asylum, now restored
- Haunted places in Michigan
- Haunted places in Detroit
Visited one of these places? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from visitors and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your visit. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
Is Eloise Asylum haunted?
It is one of Michigan’s most famous haunted places. Tour leaders say guests are touched, grabbed and whistled at on the upper floors of the Kay Beard Building. Others who worked there for years say they saw nothing. Treat the stories as stories.
Can you go inside Eloise Asylum?
Yes, on a booked ticket. The Kay Beard Building hosts history tours, public paranormal investigations most Saturdays and a seasonal haunted attraction.
When did Eloise close?
The psychiatric hospital closed in stages from 1977, with the last patients moved out in 1982, and Wayne County General Hospital closed in 1986.
How many people lived at Eloise?
About 10,000 at its peak during the Great Depression, on a campus of about 75 buildings and 902 acres.
Why is it called Eloise?
It was named for Eloise Dickerson Davock, daughter of Detroit’s postmaster, when the complex needed a name for its post office.
Is the Eloise cemetery open?
The cemetery where thousands of patients were buried can be visited respectfully by day. Volunteer groups such as the Friends of Eloise are working to identify those buried there.
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the official website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and investigators tell them, and we say where records contradict a story.
- Wikipedia: Eloise (psychiatric hospital)
- Eloise Asylum
- AP via AJC: Tours offer visits to a former psychiatric hospital and funeral home (Oct 2026)
- Metro Times: Eloise Asylum is now open for tours
- WWJ / Audacy: The real story of Eloise Psychiatric Hospital (2023)
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every place in our guides using official sites, historic registers, local archives and news coverage, and we report ghost stories as the stories they are. We review each guide regularly so you are not sent to a place that has closed, changed hands or banned visitors. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.