Wilbur Home for Feeble Minded
From Asylum Projects
| Wilbur Home for Feeble Minded | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Opened | 1884 |
| Closed | 1950 |
| Demolished | 1955 |
| Current Status | Demolished |
| Building Style | Single Building |
| Location | Kalamazoo, MI |
| Alternate Names |
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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.
