This Photo Story was inspired by WXYZ's news article on a mineral well owner who purchased the last remaining mineral well in Mt Clemens and will be opening the first bathhouse in over 100 years. During the 1800s, Mt Clemens was known for it's natural mineral baths and many, even celebrities, flocked to this destination to take in the mineral-infused baths.


Now, on to the St Joseph Sanitarium. How does this unused Mt Clemens building figure into this latest story? It does so because It is the only remaining structure from the Mt. Clemens bath house era. That in itself makes it interesting. However, you don't have to convince some that it being a sanitarium on its own comes with it's own interest level built in. The sanitarium had it's own baths to treat the patients for a wide variety of ailments. Below is the information from both sides of the Historical Marker in front of the building:


Historic Michigan marker for Saint Joseph Sanitarium and Bath House, established 1898 in Mount Clemens, Michigan.
Michigan historic marker for Saint Joseph Sanitarium and Bath House, established in 1900 by the Sisters of Charity of Mount Saint Joseph.

According to the Henry Ford Health website, here is more history on the sanitarium:


1898 - Work on the new sanitarium begins November 4. Drilling for mineral water continued night and day until the healing water was struck on January 11, 1899, at a depth of 1,000 feet.


1899 - The building is formally opened and blessed November 21. A brother and sister from Dunkirk, New York were the first guests to be received at the sanitarium.


1900 - The third floor of the sanitarium is equipped and staffed as a 50-bed hospital. St. Joe's opens the area's first nurse training program.

FUN FACT



Eminem's music video "3am" was partially filmed inside the St Joseph sanitarium, you can see the hallway and the lobby in the video!

The next naturally occurring question is...how do I fit into this story? It just so happens that back in September 2015, I was given permission to take photos inside the sanitarium. I knew an employee of the hospital that not only helped us get permission, but also came along with us (she is a curious soul just like me!). In this story you will see the photos showing what I saw inside as well as some exterior shots at the end. Thanks to this story, it gave me a reason to edit the images from this shoot (I originally only edited three photos. I am not sure why I didn't edit at the time, but it could be some new images I had taken of another shoot called to me, leaving them to collect dust for a decade).


This first set of images is what I imagine anyone who is interested in a sanitarium would want to know...what did the morgue look like? Here you can see images I captured inside the morgue and cooler. No, that blue light in that first photo was not eerily there by happenstance...we brought colored lights with us so we could capture an image such as this. Yes a bit creepy, but I was going for some atmosphere.

Blue-lit vintage morgue room with stainless steel autopsy table, hanging scale, and white tiled walls in eerie abandoned setting.
A dimly lit morgue room with a draped gurney on wheels, tiled walls, metal door, and institutional fluorescent lighting.
Metal vault door open revealing a small storage room with wooden shelves and a workbench inside.

Next is the front entrance and lobby area that includes the the main staircase and a hallway off of the lobby.  I took in and appreciated the columns, woodwork and leaded glass. Also includes some closeup architectural details. I love that old light fixture! So fancy.

Grand historic building interior with marble columns, ornate tile floors, and elegant wooden doors in a spacious lobby.
Grand foyer featuring a wooden staircase with blue carpet, ornate balustrade, white columns, and classic wainscoting paneling.
Historic hallway with arched doorway, wainscoting, ornate columns, pendant lights, and checkered tile floors.
Elegant hallway with rich wood paneling, ornate columns, and classic checkered tile flooring in a historic building.
Vintage brass pendant light with ornate frosted glass globe shade, gold floral motifs, and decorative tassel pull chain.
Ornate Ionic column capital with scroll volutes and acanthus leaf details beneath a coffered ceiling.
Ornate pink and green corbel bracket detail on a white arched architectural column in a classical building interior.

Next, we walked towards the area where the baths had been. I'm not going to lie, I was hoping to find something like this when I walked into the bath house (the image below was taken two years later in 2017 by me while photographing another abandoned psych hospital on the east coast - you can see more abandoned hospital images if you dare). This is exactly what I would have imagined it to be:

Abandoned hospital hallway with rows of dusty, deteriorating bathtubs in a dilapidated brick building.

No such luck. Instead, it was just an empty room. A bit disappointing, I have to admit. But, given the hospital was empty, I wasn't completely surprised. At least there was a sign to the mineral baths...

Empty commercial space under renovation with marble floors, exposed ceiling grid, and long hallway with natural light.
Historic wooden doors and wainscoting in an elegant hallway leading to a Mineral Bath room with ornate tile flooring.

Next were the upper floors. We headed upstairs using the main staircase, and here you see a beautiful stained glass window. Here are some of the things we saw as we wandered through the eerily quiet hallways.

Elegant Victorian staircase with rich wood paneling, ornate balusters, coffered ceiling, and stained glass entry door.
Ornate stained glass window with fleur-de-lis design in teal and gold tones, framed by warm wood paneling.
Open blue door leading into a long hallway with purple carpet in a classic building with ornate white doorframe.
Empty room with pink walls, white columns, and a dismantled staircase railing on carpeted floor in an abandoned building.
Historic building hallway with ornate wooden staircase, decorative tile floors, tall ceilings, and arched corridor with pendant lighting.
Vintage wooden fireplace mantel with ornate mirror in an empty room with carpet and classic wooden doors.
Historic wooden staircase with ornate banister and paneled door in a classic Victorian-style interior.
Wooden door with brass lock hardware labeled Stairwell 8, featuring a Keep Locked From 4:30PM-6:30AM sign.

And here is the hallway with the clock that reads 3:00am featured in the Eminem music video. I'm glad to see they left it as is, I mean, it just makes the scene.

Long empty hallway with wooden doors, gray carpet, and ceiling lights in a vintage institutional building.

There was even a chapel, which you would expect to see inside a sanitarium. Those souls definitely needed some praying for. Also found were some left over wafers and a small bottle of wine (which was empty). I imagine they were very stale.

Modern church interior with wooden pews, vaulted ceiling, and colorful stained glass windows lining the walls.
Communion wafers and a small amber glass bottle arranged on a white cloth surface.

Whenever you get the chance to go into a basement of a historical building, you go. You never know what you may find. Not that there was anything super exciting down there, but it was cool to see the bowels of the sanitarium.

Abandoned industrial basement corridor with white pipes and metal shelving along graffiti-covered brick walls.
Brick columns line a spacious basement corridor with exposed pipes and concrete floors in an industrial building.

Lastly, are images of the exterior. We found what appeared to be an altar of some kind, overgrown, but imagined its where patients or loved ones could come for a bit of peace and quiet. I have to admit, back in 2015 I did not take exterior photos of the sanitarium building. I went to Mt Clemens yesterday to capture the whole building (and, I did not have a drone back in 2015, either).

Lush garden grotto with stone pathway, ivy-covered walls, and dense greenery beside a brick building on a sunny day.
Stone grotto shrine with red flowers and a decorative plaque, surrounded by lush green garden foliage.
Aerial view of a historic red brick building with manicured lawns and a water tower in the background on a sunny day.
Red brick church building with white-trimmed windows, decorative pediment, and cross on top against a clear blue sky.
Elegant brick building entrance featuring ornate white stone archway, decorative transom window, and classic wooden double doors.
Historic red brick building with cross atop triangular pediment, arched windows, and ornate facade details.
Historic black and white photo of a large building under construction with wooden scaffolding and workers gathered outside.

Here is an image of the sanitarium under construction in 1899. Found at Michigan Photographers Society. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhl/x-bl000352/bl000352

Thank you for reading my story! I'm glad I "accidentally" came across that news article on the Mt Clemens bath houses, otherwise these images would have continued to sit on my hard drive for another 10 years!

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Urban skyline panorama featuring modern skyscrapers and office buildings of Detroit, Michigan.