WAVERLY HILLS SANATORIUM

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This former tuberculosis sanatorium is owned by Charles and Tina Mattingly and is open to the public for both historical and paranormal tours – including overnight investigations.

A reservation must be made through their website to book your tour or investigation though.

History

The land on which the old sanatorium building now stands was originally bought by Major Thomas H Hays in 1883. It was here that he built a home for his family but had one issue – there were no schools nearby for his daughters to go to.

His solution was to build his own one room school house and hire a teacher – Lizzie Lee Harris. Miss Harris so loved the works of Walter Scott Waverley that she named the school Waverley School. Major Hays loved the name so he named the property Waverley Hills.

In the early 20th Century the “White Plague” “Consumption” or it's real name Tuberculosis was ravaging the world and killing 50% of the people who contracted it. There was no cure and it was highly infectious through the air; all the makings of an apocalyptic level disease. The only solution was keep those infected away from the general population and so began the era of the sanatoriums.

The area around Louisville was easily prone to this disease as the wetlands around the Ohio River were perfect for the gestation of the tuberculosis bacteria. The original plans to combat this terrible disease were to build a two-story wooden building for administration and two open air pavilions to take care of 40 early symptomatic patients.

In 1911 Louisville decided to build a new hospital, but it was decided that advanced cases of tuberculosis would not be housed in the hospital; likely due to the risk of spread of the disease. To take care of these patients $25,000 was put forward to build a hospital for these specific cases.

Waverley Hill was chosen for this site and the new hospital was named Waverly Hills – it is unclear when the second e was dropped, for years both spellings were used.

On August 31, 1912, all tuberculosis patients were moved to tents on the site while the hospital was being constructed. In December of 1912 a hospital for advanced cases was opened. In 1914 a children’s pavilion was opened which cared for not only juvenile cases but also for the children whose adult parents were in the adult hospital; otherwise they would have had no where to go.

In order to keep up with the admissions and not turn anyone away construction was began in March of 1924 of the massive 5 story building that most well known now. It was opened on October 17, 1926 with a capacity of 400 patients and was a state of art facility.

In 1943 streptomycin was discovered; it was proven to kill the bacteria responsible for the disease. From that point on the war against tuberculosis was on its way to being won. The number of patients in the sanatorium began to steadily decline until it was closed in June 1961; all remaining patients were sent to a much smaller sanatorium in Louisville proper.

In 1962 the building was re-opened as the Woodhaven Geriatric Center. It was a nursing home specializing in cases of dementia and severely mentally handicapped patients. In 1982 it was closed down permanently by the State amid allegations of patient abuse.

In 1983 the property was bought by a developer for just over three million dollars in hopes of converting it to a minimum-security prison. This project fell apart when the neighbors complained.

It was then decided to convert the building into apartments but that also fell apart when the sale for part of the land never happened. That sale was to have provided the funds for the conversion.

In 1996 the property was bought again – this time the plans were built a giant statue of Jesus Christ rivaling the one in Rio in Brazil. The cost of the statue was four million dollars with a later conversion of the main building into a chapel and gift shop at eight million dollars plus. Despite going nationwide for donations only three thousand dollars was raised in the first year. By the end of 1997 this project had also been cancelled.

The property remained vacant until 2001 when it was purchased by the current owners. The Mattinglys have run the site as a paranormal attraction since then using the money to restore the building back to its glory days as a sanatorium.

At last report the building is being converted into a hotel and convention center but plans may have changed as there is no information about this on the website and tours and investigations can still be booked.

Paranormal Activity

This location is considered the most haunted location in the State of Kentucky and a contender for the most haunted place in the entire USA. It is one of the most famous paranormally active sites on the planet.

In the former kitchen there is an apparition of a man in a white coat – doctor or kitchen staff probably – who wanders throughout the area. The phantom smells of food cooking – especially bread – is also reported as well as phantom footsteps.

On the fifth floor there are two medium sized rooms which may have been used for housing the patients who were clinically insane. Between the two rooms were nurse’s stations once of which is the infamous Room 502 (see below).

This being the highest point of the building – aside from the roof – there are many reports of people jumping from here to their deaths. Apparitions have been seen here as well as shadows moving in the windows, a strong feeling that something is just not right and a voice telling people to “Get Out”.

In 1928 the 29 year old head nurse hung herself in Room 502. Reportedly, she was pregnant – possibly by a doctor; and unwed – a rather large no-no in the early 20th Century. Her apparition has been seen still hanging from the ceiling. In 1932 another nurse – who worked in room 502 – either fell or jumped off of the roof to her death. It is also thought possible that she was pushed off. Her phantom screams as she fell are reported here.

A tunnel down the hill from the hospital to the road was built to deal with the large amount of fatalities. The bodies were not tossed down the chute as some sites have reported rather there was a cart and pulley system installed. People have reported intense feelings of unease bordering on fear, not being alone and not being wanted as well phantom sounds of the cart moving up and down the tunnel.

This main purpose of this tunnel was to avoid the other patients seeing large numbers of dead bodies being removed from the building. This, obviously, would lower their morale and will to fight the disease.

The apparition of a an elderly woman is seen in the building – most commonly near the entrance – with her hands and feet chained and bleeding profusely. She pleads for help from anyone who sees her. She’s thought to be from the period when the building was a nursing home.

On the roof is the ghost of Timmy – although he has been seen and felt in other areas of the building – an 8 or 9 year old boy. He is fond of playing with balls and many visitors bring balls for him to play with. There are many reports of him rolling the ball back to people as well as his phantom laughter. He is, rarely, seen as a shadow.

The Creeper crawls through the shadows of the hallways of the old hospital. He (It) is thought to be either a non-human creature or a human ghost severely traumatized from the experience of death. People report feeling powerful feelings of dread when witnessing this creature.

Dopplegangers have been seen in the halls. They are exact replicas of you – sometimes they have black holes where your eyes should be – and are considered extremely bad luck to run into. Many people believe that running into your doppleganger is a foreshadowing of your death coming soon.

A female ghost is often seen peeking out of doorways or around corners at people. She has been photographed many times including one famous photo where she looks exactly like a former patient who passed away from tuberculosis.