Difference between revisions of "Wilbur Home for Feeble Minded"

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==History==
 
==History==
Dr. Joseph Wilbur acquired the a privately owned home to care for the mentally ill. The Wilbur Home and School for the Feeble – Minded served in this capacity from May 1884 until 1950. In the mid 1950’s, it was used as a fraternity house. It was torn down to make way for the construction of the Western Michigan University Student Center, now the Bernhard Center, and dormitories in 1955.  
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Dr. Joseph Wilbur acquired the a privately owned home to care for the mentally ill. The main building and several cottages of the facility were located on a forty-two acre parcel of land north of Michigan Avenue, outside of the city limits on the one-time property of Benjamin M. Austin, who had built the stately, Italianate home in 1868. The Wilbur Home and School for the Feeble–Minded served in this capacity from May 1884 until 1950.  
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The facility closed operations in 1950. Businessman and realtor Charles B. Hayes later bought the home and rented it out to a university fraternity. The home was torn down in 1955 to make room for the construction of the Bernhard Center and several dormitories for WMU’s expanding west campus.
  
  

Latest revision as of 23:57, 8 February 2026

Wilbur Home for Feeble Minded
Opened 1884
Closed 1950
Demolished 1955
Current Status Demolished
Building Style Single Building
Location Kalamazoo, MI
Alternate Names
  • Wilbur Home and School for the Feeble-Minded



History

Dr. Joseph Wilbur acquired the a privately owned home to care for the mentally ill. The main building and several cottages of the facility were located on a forty-two acre parcel of land north of Michigan Avenue, outside of the city limits on the one-time property of Benjamin M. Austin, who had built the stately, Italianate home in 1868. The Wilbur Home and School for the Feeble–Minded served in this capacity from May 1884 until 1950.

The facility closed operations in 1950. Businessman and realtor Charles B. Hayes later bought the home and rented it out to a university fraternity. The home was torn down in 1955 to make room for the construction of the Bernhard Center and several dormitories for WMU’s expanding west campus.