Waverly Hills Sanatorium

Louisville, Kentucky

The History of Waverly Hills Sanatorium

The Waverly Hills Sanatorium land was first purchased by Major Thomas H. Hays in 1883. He decided to create a one-room schoolhouse on the property, which is where he planned for his daughters to attend. The school was called both Waverley School and Waverley Hills after the Waverley novels written by Sir Walter Scott.

However, after the early 19th century faced a tuberculosis outbreak, the school stopped operating. The Board of Tuberculosis Hospital decided to build a sanatorium on the property for individuals facing tuberculosis. In 1908, construction began for a two-story sanatorium, and 40 tuberculosis patients were admitted after it opened in 1910.

The number of tuberculosis patients continued to grow, so the building went through a five-story expansion in 1926, allowing up to 400 patients to stay there at once. Since tuberculosis was contagious and deadly at the time, the patients were secluded from others in the community. The sanatorium had its own post office, farmland, and ZIP code. Anyone working on-site wasn’t allowed to leave the property, even if they weren’t ill.

It wasn’t until 1943 that microbiologist Albert Israel Schatz invented an antibiotic medication that became an effective treatment for tuberculosis. After that, it didn’t take long for the number of cases to decrease drastically, causing little need for sanatoriums like Waverly Hills.

Is Waverly Hills Hospital / Sanatorium Haunted or Not?

The Waverly Hills Sanatorium Body Chute tunnel and hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, is supposed to be one of the most haunted places in the United States. The structure/ building has served a lot of different purposes throughout history, but the most significant one was when it was a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients from 1910 to 1961.

Treatment for tuberculosis, an infectious bacterial disease affecting the lungs, wasn’t successful at the time. Many patients and nurses who used to treat the patients and who encountered the disease died while the sanatorium was in operation: all these deaths and the nature of many of the different types of treatments patients had to endure for this disease led to many people believing that the building is haunted. To this day, there are still reports of paranormal activity within the building, especially around and near the Waverly Hills body chute.

Ghost Stories of Waverly Hill

This place has a lot of ghost stories to tell, like the ghost story of a little girl whom many people have witnessed running up and down the third floor of the hospital. There is also the ghost of a little boy playing with a ball, a woman with a bleeding wrist who cries and calls out to people for help. People who visited the hospital have experienced doors slamming shut by themselves and the sound of footsteps in an empty room.

Waverly Hills Sanatorium Death Chute

Many dead patients left the hospital through what became known as the ‘body chute.’ Specifically, this body chute is a 500-foot-long concrete tunnel with stairs and a ramp. It descends out of the building and to the bottom of the hill outside the sanatorium. It was used to wheel bodies out of the facility without other patients having to see dead people. The doctors thought that if no one saw people dying from tuberculosis, then the patients would believe the treatment was working. With the right mindset, doctors hoped the patients’ chances of survival would increase.

As this was a tunnel where they disposed of the dead bodies; the tunnel gained the name the Waverly Hills Sanatorium Death Chute.

Room 502

Another story that attracts many people about Waverly Hills Hospital history (especially for ghost hunters) is room ‘502.’ Legend says that a 29-year-old nurse allegedly hung herself from a light fixture in Room 502. It is reported that the nurse who hung herself was supposedly unmarried and pregnant OR she took her life because she had an affair with the hospital owner or a patient and contracted tuberculosis.

In another version of the story, it is said that she became that depressed by the whole scenario in the hospital from witnessing so many deaths of patients and the various different types of treatments many of them had undergone, knowing many of them will still die, that she killed herself.

There was no hard evidence of why she killed herself, but those are some of the rumors and stories told about why she supposedly hung herself and why her ghost haunts the hospital.

Timmy

According to legends, Timmy was a 6 or 7-year-old child who died in the Waverly Hills Hospital from tuberculosis. Apparently, his ghost has not moved on yet after his death.

After many different visitors had reported seeing his ghost on so many occasions, many of them started to bring toys and balls for him to play with.

Many of the visitors who have brought him toys have said that they have seen the ball and other toys they have left for him to play with moving independently by themselves: many skeptics say this has been more than likely caused by the wind or from the uneven floors within the hospital.

The Bleeding Girl

One of the saddest ghost stories in the Waverly hills hospital would be the ghost of a woman with bleeding wrists. The woman’s ghost roams in the hospital, mourning in agony, bleeding from her hands and feet. Her ghost is said to cry for help, but when people have seen her ghost and offered her help (many people who have seen her ghost believe that she is a living person at first) she runs away from them screaming in horror or just disappears in front of them. Nobody knows why her ghost does this.

Waverly Hills Sanatorium After TB

Within a year, the sanatorium was renovated and reopened as a nursing home called Woodhaven Geriatric Center. Unfortunately, the center ended up being severely understaffed, causing some patients to face neglect. Thus, it was forced to close in 1982. Plans were drawn up for the use of the property after that, but none were successfully completed.

The first failed plans were for a minimum-security prison, but people in the community were outraged by that idea. Then, ideas for an apartment complex were proposed instead but fell through because there weren’t enough funds to pursue it. One buyer even planned to build the “world’s tallest Jesus’ statue.” However, only a couple thousand dollars were raised when millions were needed.

In 2001, a couple named Tina and Charlie Mattingly bought the land, and they still own it today. However, the couple struggled for a while to do something with the property. The council approved a zoning request for a massive hotel project, but it hasn’t been completed, likely due to a lack of funding.

While some parts of the structure have been renovated, most of it still has the feel of the original sanatorium. The Mattinglys scrapped the hotel plans, it seems.

Can You Visit the Waverly Hills Sanatorium?

The short answer is, YES!

Today, Tina and Charlie host tours at the facility to raise money for the building’s restoration. They host a variety of tours, including a 2.5-hour historical tour and a 2-hour paranormal tour. During Halloween, they sometimes set up a haunted house inside the structure, which is more for fun scares than history. The location also holds 6-hour overnight tours. Guests have claimed to see ghosts of patients and nurses from the time it was a sanatorium.

Waverly Hills Sanatorium body chute is on private property, so it’s only accessible to individuals who have booked a tour. If you’re fascinated by spooky history, visit the facility’s website to find out how you can schedule a tour. However, this structure has spooky vibes even from the outside. Be warned that the tours aren’t for the faint of heart. Visit https://www.therealwaverlyhills.com/ to schedule a tour or event!

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are some questions people ask about the Waverly Hills Sanatorium

• How Big is the Waverly Hills Sanatorium?

The Waverly Hills Sanatorium is about 180,000 square feet. It houses five stories, and it was built to house up to 400 patients.

• Is Waverly Hills Sanatorium Becoming a Hotel?

No. A hotel was the original plan once Tina and Charlie bought the land. That is no longer the case. Now, the couple is raising money through tours to help maintain the historical structure. There are overnight tours available for people who want to explore the facility late at night.

• Is the movie The Death Tunnel Based on the Waverly Hills Sanatorium?

Yes, the 2005 film The Death Tunnel is based on the body chute at Waverly Hills. They also filmed the movie at the Waverly Hills Sanatorium; however, it wasn’t rated well.