Founded in 1839 when Wayne County purchased the Black Horse Tavern on the Chicago Road for use as a poorhouse, Eloise began by housing the county's indigent as well as the infirm and mentally ill, then expanded through the late nineteenth century as its population grew and new buildings were added. In 1894 a post office opened on the grounds under the name Eloise, which came to identify a 902-acre, 75-building complex. By the late 1920's, Eloise had reached a peak population of 10,000 patients and 2000 staff, functioning as a city in itself with its own farm, cannery, bakery, cemetery, employee housing, police and fire departments, trolley and train stations, and 16 kitchens serving 30,0000 meals daily. It eventually became one of the largest public health-care facilities in the U.S., using advanced medical and psychiatric treatments. During the twentieth century, physicians there pioneered the use of X-rays for diagnosis, radium for the treatment of cancer, and open-air treatment for tuberculosis, while psychiatric patients underwent electroshock and insulin shock therapy as well as music, recreational, and television therapy. Psychiatric care ended in 1979, the general hospital closed in 1984, most of the 75 buildings were razed by the mid-1980s, and more than 7,100 patients were buried in the Eloise cemetery with graves marked only by numbered blocks.