Before I share information on the old Hillcrest Sanitarium, I must share that I went to the Sanitarium over the summer, and the only remains are some of the bricks from the main hospitals foundation (picture in slideshow). It was not a scary place, but my girlfriend and I both felt a sad, heavy and anxious feeling, probably what the patients felt while they were hospitalized. Without further ado, the story of the Hillcreast Sanitarium.
From 1907 to 1982, the former hospital on County Farm Road in Howell, MI, housed hundreds of tuberculosis patients on six floors, including boys, girls, men and women. Admission was not discriminatory. Some were paying patients, while others were guests of the state or county. Regardless of who paid the bill, admission in the beginning was $7 a week, according to hospital records.
The facility changed names and purposes over the years. It was originally built as the Michigan State Sanatorium at Howell for the treatment of tuberculosis. It later became Howell State Hospital when patients with developmental disabilities where treated there. It was renamed the Hillcrest Regional Center for Developmental Disabilities before it was closed. In Polk's Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1921, it is listed as the "State Sanitarium for Tuberculosis." The Michigan State Gazette for February, 1907 notes that the "State Sanitorium for Consumptives, located three and one half miles from Howell, has been connected up by the Livingston County Mutual Telephone Company...."
The sanatorium was a self-sufficient entity that aimed to meet the patients' and employees' every need with a working farm, apple orchard, convenience store, post office, water and heating plants and kitchen staff. The hospital, situated on the highest point in southeast Michigan, according to former employees and paperwork detailing the beginning years of the state's first tuberculosis sanatorium, offered patients a picturesque place to live. Dormitories also were set up for single employees, while married staffers were offered apartments.
Physician apartments were close to the hospital "in case of emergencies," explains Detterbeck, a native of Switzerland. Since each of the physicians hired at the sanatorium were specialists in tuberculosis, it was common to have several countries represented.
The hospital was closed in 1982 and the buildings on the property were torn down in 1985. The property was purchased in 1987 and is now a subdivision containing million dollar houses, Georgetown Estates. I still find it quite odd that construction is still taking place, and has been since the early 1990s and there are less than 50 houses on the 1000 acre property...
The hospital was located on what is now High Hillcrest Drive, at approximately what is now 3125 High Hillcrest Drive. The lat-lon is 42.5872558, -83.9785627.
Here is a slideshow of historic pictures of Hillcrest, as well the as the most recent one scene, my very own. Enjoy!