Exploring the Past - Northern Michigan Asylum

i grew up knowing a man who was placed in this place for a crime he didnt commit. he had a speech impediment. he was castrated and treated very badly. he was not allowed to attend school. he taught him self to read. he would bring my family books to read. reading was so important to him. about a year later they figured out who burnt the barn down and never filed charges. orie rossell was a good man. he had a very hard life.

My ex boyfriend is from Traverse City, Michigan. He said that growing up, his mother was the Head Nurse. He also said that the hospital was self sufficient....there was a laundry, dairy cows, chickens and a large gardens. They had specific things for the patients to do for therapy.

My grandmother was mentally ill and she had a breakdown after her son, my uncle died, when he was just 14 years old. Unfortunately, she was institutionalized, and as a result she was not cured nor did she trust doctors after that. I always felt for her because she was tormented by her illness and it negatively effected all of her relationships. It was exhausting to be around her and mentally draining because of her needs. Her soul is finally resting 6 feet under and it's relief knowing she is no longer suffering mentally.

I was fortunate to be an electrician on one of the renovations, Was even able to get one of the original double hung windows with triangular top that was in one of the dormers in the attic. I took photos out of that window on what would have been seen looking out and will someday blow that up and make like a shadow box kind of thing. In 2009 I bought a storage unit contents in Williamsburg Michigan near Traverse City for 25 dollars and found out most of it was salvage from the building 50 renovation. It contained one of the drab institutional green notice board/boxes and it was the same exact green from the window I got years later. Also in that unit was 23 of the tall doors that would have gone in the openings of where you saw in the videos. The doors were wild, most had a 2" hole with a metal screen to look in on patients and only nobs on the outside an no way to open door from the inside. I sold every door on Craigslist to a Brownstone downtown Louisville Kentucky that the builder had stolen the doors in a fire renovation. The owners needed the exact dimension and number of doors and paid me 1900 for the doors and 900 dollars to deliver. They loved knowing the history behind the doors. I have cool photos of the attics like shown in the video and also photos of one of the finished renovations.

This is fucking amazing. In my town in Norway, everything older than the 1960s have been removed. Been watching all of your videos and the US have so much interesting to offer. Been to NY, NJ and FL. One day i want to visit all states

The barns have a garden called Lucille’s Garden, that’s my great grandmother. I spent summers around these buildings in the late 80’s, early 90’s. I was just there. ❤

To my eye, those beautiful wood floors are quarter-sawn oak. This type of floor can last for centuries if well maintained. Beautiful old buildings. Love the framing in the attic spaces. Thanks for posting!

THIS is how historical buildings should be. Even if they have a sad past! A shame that the main part is gone now, but the fact that they’ve preserved much of the building and that you can take a tour through the not restored parts is amazing. History is always best learned when you are able to see it and experience it in person. How cool to see a Kirkbride that isn’t rotting away or torn down for once! They are few and far between today. I mean it’s a bit sinister to think that they were designed to purposefully confuse the patients so they could not leave, however as I stated before, whether tragic or not, history needs to be preserved and shown to people to have a more experiential way of learning rather than just in textbooks

My mom did a nurses rotation when in nurses school 70 years ago. She mentioned some of the rooms for severe psychiatric patients had scratched and teeth marked window frames. The worst thing she had to do is bring medical waste down in the basement refuse area. Spooky to say the least

You’re amazing Chris finding these architectural jewels! Sadly, this country needs psychiatric living facilities for all the mental health issues we face🥺 Money! Resources! 🙏🏻

My grandmother and aunt both retired from the State Hospital. They both worked night shifts their entire careers. I am sure there is many many lost souls in these buildings. Many of us enjoyed going thru the tunnels and buildings before they were restored.

I live in mid-Michigan, and my sister lives just west of the asylum a few miles. I've passed it many times on Silver Lake Rd. It used to be awesome to see years ago, even from the road. It was very spooky looking. Thank you for the inside tour. What a fascinating place!

My great grandmother was a patient there (1930s and 1940s). She was an immigrant from Lithuania and struggled with her new life in the United States. Losing 2 children as infants, language barrier and isolation caused her mental pain. Our family has often wondered if the new medications we have available would have helped her.

I worked at a New York State maximum security psychiatric center for 14 years. I've watched a LOT of YouTube channels who tour such places after they've shut down. Just wanted to say you've done the best I've seen in researching, explaining and presenting what these places were like. Good job! If you or anyone else reads this though, all I have to say is,,, I'd never recommend to anyone thinking of working in a facility like this, not even a civil facility. It's not worth the pay, benefits or ptsd. Regardless of the position.

It's the traverse city state hospital. I lived in the area for awhile, i worked on the construction crew that restored building 50, and as a kid we used to break into all of the buildings

So cool that you are in my neck of the woods. My mom remembers school field trips to the asylum when she was high school in the 60s and yes, they were allowed in the wards with patients. She says it was pretty awful. Equally awful, when it did close, many patients were just let go to fend for themselves. Many ended up homeless.

I had never heard of this Kirkbride(?) style and approach to patient care. Kalamazoo, MI had a large farm property on a lake that our local asylum used to send more stable patients to live. There were several "cottages"; really, 3-4 story mansions. The grounds were well-kept. The patients worked on the farm. They kept a lot of the food but also sold some as well. The theory for the staff was that patients, just like anyone else, like to have some purpose, some work, and also benefit from being outside. They saw great success in it. On occasion a patient would have a breakdown and have to be sent back to the hospital. Once they were stabilized, they always requested to go back to the farm. I appreciate hearing this story you have done as well, because so often we only hear about the dark side of psychiatric care with all the "ghost hunting" and horror story telling. As someone who has a chronic mental illness, I am gladdened to hear of places that (while not perfect) really made the efforts to give their patients comfort, fun, and meaning in their lives.

I find the attic areas the most interesting. The insight into the construction processes of the past are enlightening.

Outstanding architecture and design!!! So much potential for that building and grounds.... would love to do a ghost hunt there. 😁 These places are so badly needed today, not only for the homeless, but those less fortunate than others, just sad the man's inhumanity to man is so rampant.... 😓

I was able to see this place in the late 1990's before it was restored. What a cool place! Glad you got a chance to see it.