There are many reports of the infamous shadow people of Waverly Hills. They found themselves stuck in a room whose door would not open and shadowy figures appeared in the room. Could it be that this strife and the negative emotions bled out to stain the very walls of this place and tether these spirits here? No matter the good vibes the site espoused, it still ended up as place to scare people. I wanted to shut my eyes but I had to see where I was going. Each year thousands of people visit Waverly to see the architecture, learn of the rich history, or chance an encounter with the unknown. Fandom Muthead Futhead Fanatical The building was designed to accommodate 40-50 tuberculosis patients safely. Ghost stories:Here are 300+ haunted places to explore in Kentucky and Indiana. A new wing was built that year to accommodate those patients in advanced stages. Its said that the state shut it down due to reports of improper care and physical abuse of the elderly patients there. For the past few years, this crumbling tunnel has been featured during the Halloween season. In its heyday, Waverly Hills could be called state of the art. It was well-equipped and considered modern. It is sad that a place that played such a vital role during this period of history and medical discovery was not only over, but now disrespected. Some worry the transformation will . Jeff is a writer, an author, a health and fitness nerd, and, perhaps most importantly, a traveler. Across the Atlantic in the United States, and out of his own triumphant experience with the disease, Edward Trudeau would establish the first sanatorium in the country at Saranac Lake, New York in 1884. Even with many new procedures available, it was impossible to save everyone. Today, Waverly Hills reputation as a paranormal spot is on a global scale. The number of shrouded bodies being taken away from the building began to have a dramatic effect on the morale of the victims, which was hugely problematic since this was the cornerstone of treatment. "), Meet Wayne Hettinger:How did ignorance help create Thunder Over Louisville? :The bitter feud over Louisville's most famous haunted site. In 1961, the hospital finally closed its doors. It is part of the Waverly Hills Haunted House tour, which draws waves of haunted house lovers, along with parents and children. Whatever is going on here has been enough to attract a great amount of attention from the paranormal community and cement this place's status as one of the granddaddies of haunted places, and if you feel brave or curious there are plenty of ghost tours available for you to take. Since then, theyve worked with the Waverly Hills preservation society to restore the building. Later it was leased to a private nursing firm and the name was changed to Woodhaven Geriatric Center. For instance, doctors would surgically remove up to seven ribs in the misguided hopes that a patients lungs would inflate to fill the space. Supernatural Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. It was not known at the time that Tuberculosis was an airborne disease. Frank J. Stewart served as the assistant medical director and as a physician at the sanatorium up until the 1950s. Today, the building is spooky enough to give anyone chills. The most common treatment was simply bed rest in the, One fairly horrific procedure used on TB patients before medication was available was called. The two TB sanatoriums were open for a total of 51 years, which means that 3 to 4 people would have died every single day. Ryan and Shane discover why this Sanatorium is one of the most haunted places in the world. The empty building was purchased by a number of buyers in the following years, but nothing ever saw fruition. At the time it was considered to be one of the largest and most advanced tuberculosis sanatoriums in the country, if not the world, yet despite the well-equipped facilities and the placid scenery of peaceful forests and scenic views from atop the hill, this was most certainly a place of darkness. He had a small schoolhouse built on Pages Lane and hired schoolteacher Lizzie Lee Harris to teach his three daughters. Why is it that this place should be so amazingly haunted? The leading independent voice for aviation news and insight. Regardless, these medical advances would eventually put facilities such as the Waverly Hills Sanatorium out of business. Since Louisville was experiencing a surge in cases that swamped its other facilities, Waverly Hills was constructed to pick up the slack, and in its day it was considered a true marvel. She decided to help them create their bomb. It wasnt until 1882 that Robert Koch published a paper identifying this bacillus for the first time. One report from a paranormal investigation group noted that six members saw what they claim looked like a young girls shadow that was completely opaque. As such, Waverly Hills was largely self-sufficient; they grew their own food and raised animals; they had a post office and a water treatment facility. In a 2001 newspaper story ahead of an on-site taping of Fox Family's "Scariest Places on Earth," a Courier Journal reporter noted "countless local legends about the place being haunted" had been fueled by the high number of people who succumbed to tuberculosis during the more than 50 years it housed patients. Several people have claimed shadowy figures have peered around corners at them. However, most of these occurrences reportedly take place in Room 502. Search, watch, and cook every single Tasty recipe and video ever - all in one place! In later years, the property was repeatedly vandalized, and landowners didnt seem to care much about upkeep on the building -- which was nearly condemned. When the visit was over, the visitors left Waverly and ventured back out into the community. Death was an everyday occurrence here, with bodies piling up and shipped out on a daily basis, and to be sent to Waverly Hills was a one-way ticket, a veritable death sentence. This floor is actually centered in the middle of the hospital and the two wards, extending out from the nurses station, is glassed in on all sides and opens out onto a patio-type roof. He hired a woman named Lizzie Lee Harris to teach at the school. Construction on the site began in 1908 and it opened in 1910, according to Waverly Hills' website, to serve as an isolated medical center for patients afflicted with tuberculosis, which had been spreading through the Louisville area. On the other hand, the toll Tuberculosis was exacting in Jefferson County was morphing from bad to worse. US residents can opt out of "sales" of personal data. The moon light reflected through the building and we had a pretty good sight of the hall up to the point where the hall bent in a slight angle. Before they could do so though, several of them reported the sounds of footsteps, a door swinging shut and the smell of fresh baked bread in the air. More than half of those diagnosed with TB would die in three to five years. It is listed on the National Historic Register and faced the threat of being torn down. At some point between Chris and us, behind Chris and in front of us, 2 bright balls of light shot from one room across the hall and into the adjacent room. It is the fact that in its day it saw so much death and suffering? The facility rapidly expanded to become more or less its own self-contained city. It should be no surprise considering the history of death pervading this place, and the list of paranormal activity here is long. A childrens pavilion was also built to house not only young victims of the disease, but also children whose parents were too ill to care for them. **Research compiled for Ryan & Shane on January 27, 2017 by Micki Taylor. The Waverly Hills Sanatorium was built as a self-sufficient community, with its own ZIP code,post office and farmland. The Haunted Halls Of Waverly Hills Hospital. Waverly Hills Sanatorium is a hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, used in the 20th century for people with tuberculosis. From Alabama to Wyoming, there are abandoned towns, amusement parks, and ruins lurking in your home state. The first antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis was called streptomycin, and it was discovered by American biologists in 1943. Rate. A visit to Waverly Hills is a journey to the strange world of ghosts and ghostly experiences. But even before protesters showed up this month at the gates on Paralee Drive, Waverly Hills has always been a well-known Louisville landmark first as a tuberculosis treatment center in the early and mid-1900s to its more recent "haunted" history. It was two stories tall and had only enough space for 40 patients in early stages of TB. Related: Here's What We Know About The Future Of Waverly Hills Sanatarium. Research notes for Supernatural Season 2 Episode 4. Welcome to the Supernatural Corner Podcast, a weekly podcast about the supernatural and the paranormal. Layer by Layer: A Mexico City Culinary Adventure, Sacred Granaries, Kasbahs and Feasts in Morocco, Monster of the Month: The Hopkinsville Goblins, How to Grow a Dye Garden With Aaron Sanders Head, Paper Botanicals With Kate Croghan Alarcn, Writing the Food Memoir: A Workshop With Gina Rae La Cerva, Reading the Urban Landscape With Annie Novak, Making Scents: Experimental Perfumery With Saskia Wilson-Brown, Secret Nun Cookies at Monasterio del Corpus Christi, Wonder Is Everywhere: Civil War Gold, a New Moai, and More From Around the Web, The Woman Preserving the Endangered Cuisine of Indian Jews, How a Lone Researcher Faced Down Millions of Army Ants on the March in Ecuador. Then as now, it was characterized by drenching night sweats, persistent coughing (that would many times produce blood), lack of appetite, lethargy, and swollen extremities. This is the building that still stands to this day. Construction on this building began in 1908 and opened for business on July 26, 1910. What they catch on video lives up to its reputation. This was a nurses station where a nurse allegedly harmed herself after discovering she was pregnant. One of the creepier Waverly Hills legends is a room near the morgue dubbed the draining room, where dead bodies were supposedly hung on hooks and cut open top to bottom to rid them of infected fluids. but patients families still visited them on designated visitors days, lol. Another theory is that Mary got pregnant by one of the doctors, and when he tried to perform an abortion, she died, and the suicide was staged. Still, several sites on the property, where more than 6,000 people are believed to have died, have taken on a life of their own in paranormal popular culture. Another buildingin a distinctively Gothic architectural designwould be constructed. Self care and ideas to help you live a healthier, happier life. Like those who are known to be pet lovers viciously harming cats. The bitter feud over Louisville's most famous haunted site, What issues must Louisville's next mayor try to fix? For those who have the nerve. The doors to the patients rooms began to slam shut. This calm grassy field was once a Superfund site full of thousands of nasty chemicals. Its this property that the Board of Tuberculosis would buy in 1908. Visitation is only available during Historical Society events. Everyone at Waverly patients, nurses, doctors, and other employees had to say goodbye to everything they knew on the outside world. Nestled on the top of a placid hill, the old Waverly Hills Sanatorium once tried to heal tuberculosis with peace and good vibes. Winner will be selected at random on 04/01/2023. See production, box office & company info, Self - Executive Director of Waverly Hills, Waverly Hills Sanatorium - 4400 Paralee Lane, Louisville, Kentucky, USA. When I looked to the floor it was a brick. It would only become successful when used in combination with other antibiotics. But faith in natures agentsfresh air and sunlightpersisted. The idea was to be completely self-reliant and isolated, and indeed everyone who came here, including doctors, nurses, and staff were required to cut off all links to the outside world, say goodbye to those they knew, and remain within this place permanently, making it almost like leaving Earth behind on a one-way voyage to some far away world. One of his best experiences is walking barefoot on forest trails.. Over the following years, Waverly would become a nearly "self contained" community. However, while the building and medical equipment were impressive, the treatment outcome was anything but. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. The Waverly Hills Historical Society runs tours by reservation only each year, March through August. Symptoms of tuberculosis include: a lasting cough, chest pains, fever, loss of appetite / weight loss, hills, sweating, and coughing up blood. Once they had collected everyone, Billie the Reaper came and took notice of their actions. Other miscellaneous ghosts and spirits said to wander Waverly Hills are a screaming elderly lady in bloodied chains, a dark and malevolent demonic presence called The Creeper, which ambles about on all fours and climbs ceilings and walls, a shy apparition of woman who likes to peek around corners at visitors, a shadowy apparition that likes to play hide and seek with visitors, and numerous reports of entities that take on the appearance of those observing it, like doppelgangers of some sort. The warm, wet weather in Kentucky near the Ohio River was a breeding place for bacteria, and insects often helped to spread disease. This original building was meant to hold 40-50 patients at one time, roughly half male and half female. The Haunted Halls Of Waverly Hills Hospital: Directed by Ryan Bergara. The administrators began taking the bodies through the hidden tunnel to hide the morbid evidence from the other tenants, earning the tunnel the nickname the body chute. Luckily this misery came to an end in the 1940s when a tuberculosis drug was introduced that drastically lowered the need for such a large facility. This former tuberculosis treatment facility now stands at the center of a public park. To clarify what was said in a WAVE report, the Waverly Hills Historical Society never initiated any eviction proceedings against the Mattinglys or kicked anyone out . Regardless, such stories strike a mysterious chord in our souls thats hard to dismiss. In 2001, Charles and Tina Mattingly bought the property. A chute was built to aid in disposing dead bodies in such a way that the sick did not have to see them leaving. Four years later, in 1932, some say another nurse jumped to her death from the 5th floor patio near Room 502. Then in 1882, a German physician called Robert Koch announced to an expectant world the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes Tuberculosis. They've feared Waverly Hills Sanatorium their entire lives, and for good reason. Waverly Hills had its own fields and livestock, vegetable fields, water treatment facility, and even its own radio station, post office and zip code. The owner (Tina) and a security guard say theyve seen lights turn on in this room while they were outside. As we entered the 4th floor our eyes were more adjusted. A Q&A with the man behind the show. SPOOKED, The Ghosts of Waverly Hills Sanatorium, documents paranormal evidence including, ORBS, EVPS, Shadow People, Ghostly Photography and video, interviews with actual patients, ghost hunters and the people of Waverly Hills Sanatorium. In 1926, the massive building seen today opened its doors to accommodate another 450 beds. Before it gained fame as a so-called "haunted" site, the Waverly Hills Sanatorium served as an important medical center in Louisville. Unsure of where to gather enough souls, Dean suggested this sanatorium. The management allows tours that can only take place by way of prior reservation. However the spelling fluctuated between both spellings many times over the years.EXPLORATION:One of the legends told of Waverly Hills involves a man in a white coat who has been seen walking in the kitchen and the smell of cooking food that sometimes wafts through the room. 1977. Not much was known scientifically about tuberculosis at that point -- but it was clearly very contagious, and it was common practice to quarantine TB patients away from the population. 86,245 were here. We ran past the area where the light traveled to get to Chris who stopped at the end of the hall not knowing where to go. In 1944, there was a groundbreaking discovery of a type of antibiotic that could successfully treat tuberculosis, called streptomycin, and with this amazing new treatment the need for such a large sanatorium became steadily unnecessary, rendering Waverly Hills obsolete. During the late 1800s, roughly one in five deaths (20%) was attributed to tuberculosis. Come Party With . 7.9. Votes: 439. Please use Gate B at 4400 Paralee Drive off of Dixie Highway. In 1912, patients in advanced stages of infection were moved from from the City Hospital to Waverly Hills Sanatorium. Lately, the southwest Jefferson County site has been at the center of a lawsuit between its owner and the Waverly Hills Historical Society, a group leased to take care of the property. As no reason has been given for why she would have committed suicide, rumor is, she was actually pushed. When you're around it and you actually see this stuff, and people can't explain it - I mean, there's some things we can explain but many we can't - you start to wonder, is there something about a spirit that stays around? Today, it stands today as a monument in the fight against the dreaded disease. Then, the tuberculosis epidemic began to spread in Jefferson County, and the hospital could not keep up. Charlie and Tina Mattingly, the current owners of Waverly Hills, plan to turn the facility into a four-star hotel catering to history buffs and those intrigued by the supernatural. Its believed that tuberculosis has claimed roughly. Oh, and while we are here, of course Waverly Hills is extremely haunted, with Mattingly saying: When you have that kind of death, you can't help but to think there might be a spirit lingering around that just isn't happy. But it wasnt a silver bullet. #haunted #ghost #podcastLIKE and SUBSCRIBE!! Something for everyone interested in hair, makeup, style, and body positivity. Previous property owners had no desire to maintain the luster of the building and did little to stop people from slowly destroying her. Open air, sunshine, heat lamps, a hodgepodge of various medications, and hope and prayer were the most common ways, but these unfortunately didnt work. What they catch on video lives up to its reputation. In 1962 the hospital was purchased by the state and used as a nursing home. In the early 1900s, Jefferson County would experience a surge in Tuberculosis outbreaks. These paranormal events include shadowy presences, cold spots, and others of a similar nature. The fifth floor also featured a heliotherapy department, where . As we entered the stairwell we somehow ended up on the floor below us and not the ground floor. From 1962 to 1981, the building served as a medical facility for geriatric patients: the Woodhaven Geriatrics Center. The reasons for doing this may have been to keep from spreading disease once the body was brought back into town, and/or to make the body lighter. Waverly Hills Tour On the night of July 26, 2013I participated in one of their guided paranormal/historical tours. Room 502 has a reputation due to the two suicides that supposedly occurred there. Waverly Hills Sanatoriumis a hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, used in the 20th century for people with tuberculosis. The boys entered the place and began hunting the souls down. It opened in 1910 as a two-story hospital to accommodate 40 to 50 tuberculosis patients. 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