I love finding out-of-the-way sites and learning little known stories about the places we visit, but my wish to visit the gravesite of a famous resident at the former grounds of a northern Michigan hospital for the mentally ill had Tim wondering about my own mental stability!
The fact that it was the grave of a cow gave him further doubts, but willing traveler that he is, he agreed to check out this unique tribute to Traverse Colantha Walker with me.
Colantha gained fame as an amazingly prolific milk cow and as the most famous resident to ever live at the Traverse City State Hospital.
The institution, established in 1885, was the model of the then-modern way of treating the mentally ill with kindness, pleasant surroundings and meaningful work, as opposed to earlier methods that included draconian punishments, restraints, isolation and inactivity.
Architect James Kirkbride designed the brick Victorian-Italianate-style buildings to maximize exposure to fresh air, natural lighting and beautiful landscaping. The asylum's first medical superintendent, Dr. J.D. Munson, oversaw the planting of exotic plants and trees on the grounds, as well as development of a farm to provide food and restorative outdoor work for patients.
The hospital's farm began with a few milk cows in 1885. Soon, there were pigs, chickens, horses and meat cows, as well as vegetable plots, fruit orchards, vineyards and berry bushes. Self-sufficiency through careful management of crops and livestock was a point of pride at the hospital.
Colantha was born on April 29, 1916 as one of nearly 100 dairy cows that roamed the grounds, but she quickly distinguished herself with her astonishing milk production.
In 1926, Colantha produced a world-record 22,918 pounds of milk at a time when the state average production per cow was 3,918 pounds per year.
During her lifetime, she produced 200,114.9 pounds of milk and 7,525.8 pounds of fat.
Dairy cows today can produce far more milk in a year than Colantha because of changes in diets and breeding practices over the years. However, the life of a dairy cow at a large production facility can average closer to 2 or 3 years as opposed to the 14- to 16-year lifespan cows like Colantha enjoyed during the 1920s.
After Colantha died on January 8, 1932, the hospital held a banquet in her honor and installed a granite headstone on the grounds near the barns she knew as home.
The Traverse City State Hospital ceased operating in 1989 as modern drug therapies allowed mainstreaming of mentally ill patients. The institution had as many as 3,500 residents at one time, was the city's largest employer and contributed greatly to the town's early growth. The hospital's closure spelled the loss of 200 jobs.
I remember seeing the empty buildings and deserted campus many times as we visited Traverse City during the 1990s, so I was intrigued when I heard the Minervini Group took on the job of renovating and restoring the historic buildings as a mixed-used development in 2000.
Today, The Village at Grand Traverse Commons is a 500-acre campus with commercial and residential components. The buildings envisioned by architect Kirkbride proved spacious and bright enough make them adaptable to modern needs, although the size of the campus and the number of buildings means the development is gradual and still-ongoing process.
The farm previously roamed by Colantha and her cousins still looks much as it did years ago
Finding Colantha's final resting place requires driving deep into the campus and to the end of a dirt road near the south side of the complex.
The Village organized the Colantha Walker Dairy Festival in recent years to honor the hospital's most famous resident. The festival started as a unique event to highlight the development's history and its ongoing urban renewal and preservation. It also ties into increased interest in local products produced by local farmers. Food and art vendors, a farmers market, live music and a parade to Colantha's headstone were part of the festival's activities in June of 2010 and 2011.
It was quiet the day we visited Colantha's grave. I added a stone to the tiny cairn started by previous visitors atop the headstone and wondered what Colantha would think of her home today.
Curious about the hospital and its history? Check out Northern Michigan Asylum: A History of the Traverse City State Hospital by William A. Decker, Beauty is Therapy: Memories of the Traverse City State Hospital by Kristen M. Hains and Earle E. Steele or Traverse City State Hospital (Images of America) by Chris Miller.
© Dominique King 2011 All rights reserved
