Waverly Hills Sanatorium: A Lingering History and Haunts

Imagine waking to your own persistent cough. At first, you think you must have caught a cold, and it’ll clear up in a few days with rest and fluids. But the coughing continues for a week, and then two, and then three. It doesn’t let up. Worse, you are experiencing other symptoms. You suffer through chills, yet profusely sweat at night. You are losing weight at an alarming rate, yet you have no appetite. You feel fatigued, and you hack up blood and phlegm, and feel a pain in your chest.

You go to your doctor. After an examination, he gives you the news that shatters your world: you have tuberculosis. It seems like your life is over with this diagnosis, but your doctor shares information that sounds hopeful. There is a sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky, where patients with tuberculosis are treated with a combination of sunshine, fresh air, and exercise. At this point, you are willing to do anything to help with this disease, and you agree to go. Unbeknownst to you, you will be heading to a place filled with barbaric treatments and a high death toll.

My name is Aspen-Arts, and today we shall take a look at a well-known haunted sanatorium, Waverly Hills Sanatorium. 

HISTORY OF WAVERLY HILLS

In 1883, a piece of land was purchased by Major Thomas H. Hays to serve as his family’s home. Because the existing schools were too far away, Hays decided to open up a one-room schoolhouse for his daughters to attend. Lizzie Lee Harris was hired as the school’s teacher. Due to her love for the novel by Walter Scott, Waverly, she named the school Waverly School. The land itself was soon named Waverly Hill to match.  

At the beginning of the 20th century, Louisville, Kentucky, was hit with the highest rate of tuberculosis deaths due to the wetlands of the Ohio River. Tuberculosis, or TB, was the leading cause of death during the early 1900s. Known as “The White Plague,” one out of seven people died from tuberculosis. The most notorious symptom is persistent coughing, sometimes accompanied by mucus or blood. Other symptoms include fatigue, fever, and chest pains. Nowadays, tuberculosis is a treatable disease. Back in the early 19th century, however, medical care for this disease was limited. At the time, it was believed that unclean air caused tuberculosis and that fresh air could cure it. Therefore, specialized hospitals, known as sanatoriums, were built in rural areas to offer patients maximum exposure to sunlight and clean air for patients.

A proper location to contain the disease was required for the patients in Louisville, and Hays’ property was chosen for its increased airflow, a tranquil, picturesque view, and its distance from the town. Waverly Hills Sanatorium was opened in 1910. The sanatorium was a two-story building with two connected open-air pavilions. The constant need for repairs on the wooden structures and the consistent demand for more beds to accommodate the rapid increase of tuberculosis patients caused the sanatorium to be elevated from a two-story wooden building to a five-story building made of concrete. Because of how contagious tuberculosis can be, almost nobody was allowed to leave the sanatorium. Patients and staff had to be separated from their families. Children of patients residing in the sanatorium lived in a separate wing. The sanatorium contained laundry facilities, a butchery, a maintenance garage, and several hundred acres of farmland where food was grown and animals were kept for their meat, eggs, and milk. 

DARK TREATMENTS

Many patients walked through the doors of Waverly Hills Sanatorium. With fresh air, plenty of bed rest, and nutritious foods, many were cured and eventually able to leave the sanatorium. Unfortunately, not all of the patients were fortunate enough to experience the same fate. Because tuberculosis was a new disease, there was no medicine to help fight the infection. Experimental treatment was explored at Waverly Hills Sanatorium, many of which sound as if they come straight from a horror movie. Ribs were removed from patients to allow for improved lung expansion. Small balloons were placed inside patients’ lungs to stretch them. Sometimes,  an entire lobe of a lung was removed from a patient. If the illness spread to the brain, electroshock therapy was prescribed.  

It is said that around 68,000 patients died in Waverly Hills Sanatorium, though some argue that only eight-thousand  patients died. The actual number is unknown; unfortunately, records were lost. What is known is that, due to the rise of deaths at the sanatorium, a tunnel below the institution  was used to support the rising body count. Originally built to transfer materials, the tunnel was later used to secretly transfer dead bodies out of the sanatorium in order to keep the living patients from seeing the dead. The tunnel became known as “The Body Chute.”

BEGINNING OF THE END

In 1943, a new antibiotic, Streptomycin, was discovered and quickly used to fight against tuberculosis. It wasn’t until 1949, when Waverly Hills Sanatorium was given the new drug, that the patient population began to dwindle. Eventually, the remaining patients were sent to regular hospitals as outpatients, and after fifty-one years, Waverly Hills Sanatorium was closed in June 1961.

However, it wouldn’t remain closed for long. After a year, it was reopened again as a nursing home named Woodhaven Geriatric Center. Patients with mental illness were sent to this facility for treatment; unfortunately due to staffing inadequacies, the care facility became synonymous  with inhumane treatment. Patient neglect, infestations of cockroaches, and electroshock therapy were some of the horrors rumored to be rampant at Woodhaven.After a Grand Jury investigation, Woodhaven was closed in 1982.

Throughout the years, the property of Waverly Hills passed through the hands of different owners. J. Clifford Todd purchased the property with plans to convert the building into a minimum security prison, but the idea was dismissed after locals protested. His next idea was to transform the building into apartments, but that also fell through due to a lack of funding. The next owner of the property was Robert Alberhasky, who purchased the area in 1996. He hired local sculptor, Ed Hamilton, and architect, Jasper Ward, to help with his plan to construct the world’s tallest statue of Jesus Christ. Yes, you read that right. Robert had wanted to construct a 150-foot Jesus statue to place on top of the building, where he would then convert it into a chapel, a theater, and a gift shop. A fundraiser was created, with the goal of raising eight-million dollars in a year. After the year passed, only three-thousand dollars had been raised. Robert abandoned the plan and the property of Waverly Hills.

In 2001, the property was purchased by the current owners, Charlie and Tina Mattingly. The couple formed the Waverly Hills Historical Society, which seeks to preserve and restore the building by giving tours, both historical and paranormal. 

HAUNTINGS

One would think the past might remain in the past with a historical building such as Waverly Hills Sanatorium. However, according to employees and visitors to the building, the past remains, despite the years that have passed since its opening.

Many claim to have caught glimpses of nurses wandering the hallways or shadowy figures darting between rooms and disappearing quickly. “The Body Chute” is said to be active with paranormal activity. Investigators have reported hearing knocks, moans, and doors being slammed, along with the chilling sensation of being watched. 

One of the most well-known ghosts is a little boy named Timmy, who is known to have a fondness for leather balls. Witnesses have reported rolling toy balls down the hallway. The balls, witnesses claim, would always roll back, despite nobody being at the end of the hallway. Visitors would leave balls and other toys for Timmy, which perhaps brings joy to the ghostly boy. Timmy is said to be on the playful side of the paranormal, and he hasn’t caused any distress to anyone. Possibly, he views visitors as potential new friends who might play with him.

The same cannot be said about the entity known as “The Creeper.” This entity is seen in the hallways, usually on the fourth floor, and is a frightening apparition to behold. Manifesting as a shadowy figure with long, twisted arms and legs that crawls on the floor, it sometimes appears  on the ceiling. Some claim that, when The Creeper is spotted, a sense of overwhelming dread and impending doom fills the room, causing many to flee the property.

ROOM 502 

The most tragic and intense room at Waverly Hills is Room 502. In 1928, the head nurse, Mary Hillenburg, was found hanging. It was said she became pregnant by one of the doctors working in the facility. Since the baby would be born out of wedlock, Mary hung herself out of shame. Others claim she didn’t commit suicide, but instead was murdered. It is said that the father of her baby forced an abortion on her, but something went terribly wrong: the baby was allegedly born dead and thrown into the dreaded chute. With the help of three other men, the doctor then hung Mary so that she wouldn’t tell anyone about the botched abortion. The truth of how  Mary died, by her own hands or by someone else’s, will possibly remain unknown. But it has been said that Mary can be heard walking around Room 502. Some might even hear the small screech of a chair being moved, or possibly the chair Mary jumped from when being hanged.

Four years later, a nurse jumped from the fifth floor patio, which is near Room 502. Like Mary’s story, some say the nurse willingly took her own life.  Others say she was murdered and pushed off the fifth floor. 

Because of the two lives lost in the same room, paranormal activity is said to be most frequent there. Reports have been made of ghostly sounds, doors slamming by themselves, objects being thrown, and apparitions haunting the doorways and halls. 

CONCLUSION

For a building that was built and opened almost 116 years ago, Waverly Hills Sanatorium still remains standing. It has gained popularity over the years that hasn’t decreased in the slightest, with visitors travelling to explore it every year. Daytime tours are offered for visitors interested in the building’s history, while the more daring visitors book overnight investigations in hopes of encountering a ghost from the past. During the month of October, the number of visitors increases thanks to Waverly Hills being transformed into a Halloween Haunted attraction. One might wonder how the ghosts feel about having visitors roaming around their haunting grounds. But, so far, it seems some ghosts, like Timmy, don’t mind the visitors, and perhaps even appreciate the company every year.
Why is it that so many people flock to an old sanatorium despite it being a place of death and suffering? Perhaps it is morbid curiosity that makes us feel drawn to haunted locations. Since the dawn of time, people have wondered if there was life after death. Perhaps we have empathy for those who had to suffer through terrible situations. Maybe the emotional energy surrounding a haunted area allows us to feel closer to those lingering spirits.

Everyone has a different reason for being interested in haunted locations like Waverly Hills. Regardless, there is no doubt that Waverly Hills will remain one of the most haunted locations in the U.S. thanks to the legends surrounding it and the ghosts who still remain there.