Originally built in 1887, it replaced the giant stoves previously used to heat the Institution. Additions were made throughout the 1890s and 1910s as the population grew and more buildings were erected. The plant was phased out in 1924, as a new Powerhouse was built around it. The new Powerhouse still stands today on the grounds of Eloise.

Heating of the Institution

In the original Balck Horse Tavern, there were two immense fireplaces, one at each end of the building. The first record of a stove is the purchase in 1841 of a cooking stove for $35.62. The first range was purchased in 1865, after which numerous stoves were purchased for heating and cooking.

By 1867 the consumption of wood had reached 500 cords a year, and there were only 20 acres of timbering land remaining on the County property. It was suggested that steam be installed or that at least coal stoves be substituted. In 1876 the Board purchased staning timber and sent the inmates to work to reduce it to stove wood. Again in 1876 the Superintendents purchased 80 acres of timber for wood. This supply of fuel lasted about three years.

In 1878 one of the Board members again submitted a report to the Auditors which proposed heating the Institution by steam. The report stated that 37 stoves in the Alms House and 22 stoves in the Asylum were then being used for heating; and particularly in the Alms House, the greater number of the stoves were attended entirely by inmates, some of whom were careless and indifferent. The report further stated that, in the coming winter, all wood sources would be exhausted and that at least coal should be substituted, requiring the purchase of a number of coal stoves. The report concluded that, for an appropriation of $8,000, steam heating could be initiated.

In 1879 a few tons of coal were purchased, and the balance of wood on the 80-acre lot was used up. Finally, in 1882, a few coal stoves were purchased; and by 1886, the Board was finally allowed to enter into a contract for $6,000 for the installation of steam heating in the County House Building. Work was finally completed in January of 1887 and brought to a conclusion, a suggestion made by the Board 22 years earlier.

Concurrent with the installation of steam heating, the Superintendents began to consider available locations for a Boiler House. It was decided to locate this boiler house along a bend in the river at a point where the bend reached the furthest south end, then turned east for a few rods, where it again made a turn to the northeast. This point was 20 feet south of the first root cellar which had been built in 1884. The new building was 46 feet by 30 feet and two stories high, with an excavated pit for boilers and coal bins. The stack was 76 feet high and stood on the west side of the boiler house, about where (later) the west chimney stood. Three steel boilers were installed and fired for the first time in February, 1887. It was certainlya gala day at the County House and Asylum when the engineers started up the boilers for the first time and the steam began to circulate through the radiators in the building. The period of stoves had passed – the era of steam had commenced.

[ This information presented in part from “A History of the Wayne County Infirmary, Psychiatric, and General Hospital Complex at Eloise, Michigan” by Alvin C. Clark; pages 106 -111. ]