America’s Most Haunted: Waverly Hills Sanitarium in Louisville, Kentucky

There is a location in Louisville, Kentucky, reputed to not only be the most haunted place in the state or country, but one of the most haunted places in the world. Numerous shows have stepped inside its hallowed walls, including the hit Sci-Fi Channel program Ghost Hunters. The name of this infamous haunted landmark? Waverly Hills Sanitarium. http://www.whshistory.comhttp://www.whshistory.com.

The Waverly Hills Sanitarium had an auspicious beginning as a small one room schoolhouse. Major Thomas H. Hayes had a progressive approach to parenting during the late 19th century. While many females were encouraged or forbade from seeking education, Major Hayes wanted his daughters to have the best possible opportunities, including a solid education. In 1883 Hayes purchased the land, had the schoolhouse built, and hired Lizzie Lee Harris to teach his girls.

The Waverly name came from Harris, who thought the peaceful area reminded her of author Scott Waverley, and named the building Waverley School. Hayes renamed the property Waverley Hill. When the Board of Tuberculosis Hospital purchased the building and land, they changed the name to the Waverly Hills Sanitarium.

Waverly Hills originally opened in 1910 to treat tuberculosis, using a small two story wood building on top of the hill that could comfortably hold 50 patients at any given time. Before long the patients and need for the hospital far outgrew their capacity, and a second larger building was added in 1926. Waverly Hills had the ability to care for over 400 patients at a time, and often did as patients were shipped to the sanitarium from across the state, and from nearby states. Waverly Hills closed as a treatment center for tuberculosis in 1961, and was used for nearly 20 years later as a facility for geriatrics patients. The building closed for “good” in 1982. The company that took over the buildings was convicted of patient abuse, and had their business closed down by the state of Kentucky.

The Waverly Hills Sanitarium is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a mental institution, but its primary focus was almost always tuberculosis. Its possible that some patients suffered from mental disorders or depression because of their disease, but that was never the main reason they were sent there.

Waverly Hills is “haunted” by stories of ghosts wandering through the hospital, and other paranormal activity. Many of the stories center on an area known as the Body Chute, sometimes called the Death Tunnel or Body Slide. There were times when patients never recovered during their time at Waverly Hills, and some patients passed on while inside. To save time, bodies were placed in this tunnel, which would then slide all the way to the bottom of the chute. The bodies were then transported to the crematorium on site, or a local funeral home for burial preparations. The tunnel was actually more of a large dumb-weighter system, used to keep patients from seeing the bodies of their neighbors. It was thought that if other patients saw the bodies, they might give up hope for their own future.

The history of Waverly Hills following the 1982 closing is slightly comical. Two owners hoped to turn the building into a prison, before looking at creating apartments, but neither plan got off the ground. One former owner became convinced the land was the perfect place to build the world’s largest statue of Jesus Christ. It seems he wanted to turn the area into some kind of Christianity based playground, complete with a gift shop and large chapel. He tore down almost every building on the property, save for the hospital which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Despite efforts to have the building condemned, the owner was unable to build his statue, and eventually gave up hope on his project.

The paranormal and ghostly activity at Waverly Hills is a mixture of types, from voices to full body apparitions. Some of the stories can probably be trace to teenagers sneaking inside for a quick thrill, and finding themselves face to face with one of the many homeless who snuck inside for the night, but some can’t be that easily explained. Some visitors have claimed to see the ghosts of children inside the sanitarium; a little girl on the third floor, and a little boy on one of the lower floors. Neither spirit seems particularly harmful, just looking for a playmate.

There have also been reports of lights inside the building, strange voices, and windows and doors that open and close on their own. Some claim to have seen a ghostly hearse pull up to the building, which is an odd situation considering the hospital’s stance on the deaths of patients. It would seem that if they had needed a hearse, they would have asked the driver to stop somewhere where it wouldn’t be seen. There’s also the elderly female ghosts that is sometimes seen just after slitting her wrists in a suicide attempt. Another ghost who haunts Waverly Hills is a former doctor who walks through the cafeteria; some claim to smell food cooking as well.

No story of the Waverly Hills Sanitarium would be complete without mentioning Room 502, rumored to be the most haunted area of the hospital. The fifth floor was the area where mentally ill patients with tuberculosis were held, in particular Room 502 and Room 506. The dead body of a nurse was found in Room 502 in 1928 after hanging herself. There were reports that she was depressed after becoming pregnant and seeing her boyfriend leave her. Its not known if there were any patients in the room at the time. Just 15 years later another nurse died, after jumping from the balcony in the room. Strange noises and cold spots are experienced in the room, and some claim to see the nurse’s ghost jumping off the balcony again and again. Another rumor is that a mentally ill patient killed a nurse with a knife he smuggled into the building. Its worth noting that there is no verifiable proof of any deaths occurring in this room.

There are also legends surrounding a room known as the Drainage Room. According to the legends, locals in the area were so scared of catching tuberculosis that they didn’t want any bodies in the town. The doctors would cut the bodies open, leave them hanging on equipment that resembles meat hooks, and let the fluids drain out before sending the bodies out of the hospital. In actuality the original use of the room was electrical, as evidenced by floorplans of the building dating to the twenties, and later used to slaughter meat for the patients.

This year Waverly Hills has opened its doors as the Waverly Hills Haunted House. The Haunted House runs every Friday and Saturday night through Halloween. It’s a great way to safely see the sanitarium firsthand. The tour is centralized on the ground floor, but includes a good portion of the building that most people may never see. For ghost hunters looking for a more thorough or involved visit, the Waverly Hills Sanitarium offers half-night, and overnight trips, as well as tours of the property. Those trips are full for the year, but will begin accepting reservations again starting January 2, 2008. For more information, including pricing and reservation information visit their website at

Who knows, you might just see me there.

Sources:
http://www.whshistory.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waverly_Hills_Sanatoriumhttp://www.underworldtales.com/waverly.htm