Waverly Hills Sanatorium
Written By: ZMT
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
The History of Waverly Hill
Waverly Hills Sanatorium was built on top of a hill in 1910 in Louisville, Kentucky. As the disease continued to ravage, the facility needed to up their game. In 1926, the facility was able to expand, being able to accommodate up to 500 patients.
Due to the nature of the disease to be highly contagious, Waverly Hills became highly self-sufficient, being able to grow their own food, raise their own animals, etc. thus becoming the perfect quarantine facility for TB patients. Because of this, no one was allowed to leave the facility whether you are a patient, a doctor, or just a staff of the institution. You are no longer part of the outside world.
Treatment Gone Wrong
As there was no specific treatment for the disease, multiple methods were experimented on patients, hoping that it will somehow cure their infected patients. Such experiments include the use of direct ultraviolet light exposure to patients’ lungs in rooms that they call “sun rooms”, surgical implantations of balloons to expand a patient’s collapsed lungs, electroshock therapy on patients whose infection was believed to have reached the brain, and other experimental treatment that deemed unsuccessful.
The number of deaths, both from the unsuccessful treatment and due to the disease itself, is unknown however, it is speculated to have reached more than ten thousand patients.
Cease of Operations
As the years go by, the number of cases gradually decreases. An antibiotic for the disease was developed and later on, a vaccine was discovered, leading to the closure of the institution in 1961. A year later, it was reopened as a nursing home but it had to close down in 1982 due to patient neglect. In 2001, the place was bought by Tina and Charlie Mattingly where they are constantly putting their effort to restore the place.
In 2008, there were reports of plans to turn the sanatorium into a hotel and convention center. However, these plans did not materialize. These days, different types of tours are offered to people who want to experience Waverly Hills.
Reported Hauntings in Waverly Place
As the years go by, the sanatorium continues to garner attention due to the intense paranormal activities in the building. The body chute, a place inside the facility where dead bodies were disposed of, is believed to house the spirits of all the dead patients that were dragged there. Footsteps, doors closing on their own, and shadows moving in the hallways were experienced by people going inside the sanatorium.
A playful ghost of a child who plays with a leather ball, a little girl with no eyes who runs up and down the stairs of the second and third floor, and the ghost of a woman who had bleeding wrists while screaming for help are some of the reported ‘residents’ of the abandoned sanatorium.
Sightings of ghosts of doctors and nurses were also reported in the sanatorium. Perhaps the most infamous of them all is the ghost located in room 502. The ghost was believed to have been a pregnant nurse who committed suicide in that room. People were also believed to have jumped out of the window from the same room after the incident with the nurse.
Strange things were also experienced by those who were renovating the sanatorium. Ghostly sounds, slamming doors, lights that were supposed to be none were seen in the building, and objects were thrown at them out of nowhere.
To this day, Waverly Hills is considered as one of the most haunted places in the world. You could say that the place is where nightmares are made of.
Do you like our article on Waverly Hills Sanatorium? Comment below.
I don’t want to be in a place like that. The article is good though!
Most of those ghost stories are wrong but unfortunately have spread like wildfire. The place IS haunted….trust me! I suggest anyone wanting the real stories to join us on an investigation or tour. We’re trying to clear up misconceptions. It definitely needs to be on every paranormal investigator’s bucket list!
Sounds like a good place to do some ghost hunting. I’m all in on this.
It made me very sad to watch the video ” Faces of Waverly Hills “. Despite smiling for pictures, it must have been devastating and frightening to get that diagnosis back then and be cut off from the outside world. I admire the doctors and staff who also had to leave their families and submit to quarantine. The building looks massive and well designed but I have absolutely no desire to go there. My prayers to all the lost souls of that terrible disease.