Eloise began as the Wayne County Poorhouse in Detroit in 1832 to care for the needy, the indigent, and the insane. Overcrowding forced it to move to Nankin Township, modern day Westland, in 1839. The complex grew over the years reaching over 78 buildings and adding a tuberculosis sanitorium in the early 1900s. Beginning in the 1960s several factors combined to lead to the eventual closing of the institution in 1982. So how did it get its name? Hint: it had to do with the mail!