Hidden by large pine trees, tucked away in Traverse City lies the eerily beautiful buildings of the Traverse City State Hospital. Built in 1885, it was first known as the Northern Michigan Asylum. The hospital’s original theme was "beauty is therapy." The hospitals first superintendent, Dr. James Decker Munson, felt that if people were surrounded by beauty and tranquility, a lot of their mental problems would cease to exist. The use of straightjackets wasn’t even allowed.

 

Like any old asylum from days past, the reputation of being "haunted" precedes it. Add the fact that deterioration set in quickly after the buildings had been abandoned for a number of years since the hospitals closing in 1989. Peeking into one of the windows offers a view of peeling, mint green lead paint, long corridors, forgotten furniture and the occasional graffiti. Many of the porches are surrounded with metal grating, most likely for the patients who were not so well off.

During a 2004 trip to the hospital we noticed the buildings were getting restored to their old glory. Buildings that once housed the mentally unstable and the sick were turning into condos, office space and even a restaurant! The majority of restoration is focused on building 50. Building 50, the hospital's first and main building, was designed by architect Gordon W. Lloyd and followed the "Kirkbride" plan for mental hospitals. Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride influenced how mental hospitals were to be built for years with his book On the Construction, Organization and General Arrangements of Hospitals for the Insane published in 1854. Building 50 is the last Kirkbride building standing in Michigan.

On a 2006 trip to the Traverse City State Hospital, we explored some of the grounds away from the buildings and found the old water tank that has some amazing graffiti work on it. I wasn't paying too much attention while we were approaching the tank, so I was a little wierded out when Tom climbed up a tree to peek onto the roof of the tank and began talking. There were three teens on top of the tank just hanging out. We climbed up and took a look around and introduced ourselves to the kids. I asked them about stories told about the hospital. I expected a ton of stuff being locals but they said all the usual like just being plain "haunted" and "creepy.” They mentioned the woods we were in by the water tower gave people a strange feeling.

 

Reader Submissions

Random Email October 2009 - "We were staying at the Hospitality House at Munson in Traverse City, which is in one of the old state hospital buildings. We were in the laundry room in the basement and the door which had been open, slammed! We tried to get it unstuck and open it but it appeared locked. Seconds later it swung back open. Nobody else was around because it was late in the evening. Needless to say we didn't go near the basement again!"

 

SHAMELESS PLUG!! A climb down into a gross old water tank gets eerie and a spirit goes free!

This story and more about the old hospital can be read in the new book "Ghosts & Legends of Michigan's West Coast" by Amberrose Hammond of Michigan's Otherside. Click on the book to get your copy today at a discount!