Waverly Hills Sanitarium

Louisville, Kentucky

Tonya Hacker/2006

The History

In the heart of Louisville sets a big piece of history that has been condemned to a haunting future. Opening its doors in the early 20’s, the hospital was designed to treat those who became victim to the 20^th century outbreak of tuberculosis. Tuberculosis, known as the “White Plague” to some, is a bacterial infection affecting primarily the lungs. Patients were admitted into Waverly Hills for lung treatment, air cleansing and antibiotic circulation, or in a worst case surgical removal of the lungs. At the time, there was no identified cure to tuberculosis.

A few years later the hospital had to expand to keep up with the rise in victims of this often-deadly disease. In 1924 the expansion was complete. The Waverly Hills Sanitarium was home to no less than 400 TB patients at a time. The horrible disease was rampant throughout the Nation, people were lining up with full faith that the Waverly Hills treatment center could save their lives. As with modern medicine at the time could not keep up, the disease forced to spread like wildflowers on the hills of Kentucky. Remedy, science and even faith could not curb the threat of this horrible epidemic. At the time, the Nation was plagued with tuberculosis. Many patients were sent home while the most drastic cases were admitted into hospitals. The doctors were faced with appalling choices of who could stay and who was to return home. People traveled with the sick for hours to take advantage of the Waverly Hills medicinal breakthroughs. The word was that people were surviving the disease, all thanks to Waverly Hills. In a desperate search for a cure, people found the faint glimmer of hope in Waverly Hills’ facility, only to be turned away due to the lack of resources to treat all who came. A very short time after the expansion Waverly was turning away non-residents of Kentucky. Years later, rumors arose that those who were admitted into the hospital had horrible care and that the doctors were testing people like lab rats. From lobotomies to performing cruel and unusual medicinal practice is the haunting history that has been attached to the current image of the Waverly Hills Sanitarium. Overall, 63,000 people perished within the walls of the hospital, but witness accounts testify it was due to the disease, not malpractice. The Waverly Hills Sanitarium eventually closed in 1961 and later reopened as the Woodhaven Geriatrics Hospital. The horrible reports of patient abuse and malpractice seemed to be more historically focused on Woodhaven, not the Sanitarium. Woodhaven closed its doors in 1981, for the sole reason of patient abuse. More Waverly Hills History is available everywhere online.***

The Haunting

Upon arrival of the Waverly Hills Sanitarium, people are highly influenced by local tales, stories and first hand accounts everywhere you go while in Kentucky. Everyone in Louisville has a great ghost story and the majority of those are related to the old sanitarium. The old hospital land is being encroached upon by golf courses and new upper class neighborhoods. Waverly once set upon acres of lush land, in the rolling hills outside of Louisville which was the perfect setting for an old abandoned and very haunted hospital. The most popular of haunts within the walls of the building would be those created by alleged bizarre historical events that took place while the sanitarium was in operation, mostly centered around the the infamous room 502. The most repeated story is that pipeline/fixture outside this doorway was the final resting place of an asphyxiated nurse who hung herself after a scandalous affair. Other tales state that the woman lunged to her death on the balcony outside of room 502. Both accounts are eerie, but not officially documented within Kentucky death records. We have not seen any historical evidence that this awful suicide actually happened, but in that era, it was much easier to hide such damaging information which interferes with our pursuit of the facts behind this suicide turned specter. Other reports consist of children running and playing within the hall and visitors have named one the most recurring sightings “Timmy”. Timmy was a boy who died of tuberculosis at a very young age. Some see him as a full apparition while others witness Timmy rolling his favorite red ball down the dark and lifeless hallways. Visitors have witnessed children playing on the rooftops and laughter throughout the halls. Others have heard the pitter-patter of small bare feet echo in the halls of the 3^rd floor patient area while some guests can hear a faint and saddening whimper from beyond. Shadow People are rumored to run rampant throughout the corridors of the old sanitarium. These appear as dark yet larger than life silhouetted bodies of a semi human form and are one of the most frequently reported phenomenon at the hospital. These things are categorized differently than the ghosts that roam the halls. Balls of light, also known as orbs are reported to be flowing in dark areas, then captured on film by multiple cameras. Some reports of orbs being seen with the naked eye have also been reported. This leads us to the strangest sightings reported at Waverly Hills. Bring out the “imps”. Brown gremlins have been reported and many people have apparently captured these small troll like creatures on their personal cameras on the grounds of the now standing sanitarium. The best to my knowledge these imps could be categorized as Native American folklore, known as “Little People”, but in actuality we are unsure what this phenomenon is and it is reported here simply to maintain a full record of the many different spectacles at Waverly that have been claimed by visitors. Phantom voices have been heard in the infamous Death Tunnel. The death tunnel also known as “The body chute” is located on the grounds of Waverly and runs under the ground from the hospital to a road out of view down the hill. They used the tunnel to remove the dead in a surreptitious way to avoid additional patient distress. But on the contrary to haunting belief, the tunnel was also used to bring supplies, food and medical equipment in and out. The tunnel was not used for the sole purpose of body removal. There are several more rumored haunts at the old sanitarium for instance; a young girl who is missing her eyes has been seen crouched in corners calling for help. A woman roams the halls with bloody wrists and chains adorned while screaming for help. Investigators and witnesses pin these ghostly apparitions at the sometimes harsh and maddening experiments allegedly performed on the patients so many years ago. With over 63,000 reported deaths at Waverly Hills Sanitarium, there is no doubt that there could be a couple ghosts lingering the halls of the old hospital. These are reports we have read about, watched on TV and of course while we were there, these tales were told to us us, many by direct witnesses. Even stopping to ask random strangers about their thoughts of the hospital on the hill, most of them said they had either heard about the ghosts, didn’t believe or had a hands on account with the unknown while visiting.

The Investigation- Observations

This was a joint investigation, between GHOULI, EERIE Oklahoma and the Iowa based team DIEPART. We arrived at the hospital in the heat of the day. It was a hot and sticky afternoon and it felt like no less than 100 degrees in the shade. Nobody mentioned how hot Kentucky could get! To get to the hospital we drove through a small upscale housing community, passing a nearby golf course and country club type of party house before entering a road lined with trees that curved up the side of the hill. A metal gate met us and we caught our first daylight full glimpse of the sanitarium. The building is a very large structure that stands. Surrounded by once privatizing forest we noticed the building was beautiful and shaped in a slight “U’ formation designed to catch wind for the clean air lung treatment. We have heard the comments about the building being a “monster” in size, we were impressed but as most realize, we have investigated larger buildings in the past. We approached building as a personal challenge, not a monster. We were able to go inside the tourist center that was then the Waverly Hills laundry facility. Complete with a gift shop, artifacts found within the old hospital and old photos from the past the current management is based in this outbuilding. We did notice that on top of the historical documentation in the center, there was an ample amount of ghostly information and some faulty claimed evidence. We were soon able to enter the building and get our first glimpse inside and of course take a lot of photos. While entering the building we instantly noticed a trend, betrayed many of the visitors’ to Waverly thoughts: essentially the theme was that ghosts run amuck through the halls. Graffiti depicting spooky faces, sayings directed to the dead and of course the numbers “502” is painted on almost every wall.

The day trip allowed the GHOULI and EERIE team to clear our preconceived notions about the ghosts that we would be investigating later that evening. The ghosts of Waverly are no big secret; in fact, our minds were indulged with ghostly tales before even stepping foot into this building. We have learned that it is never professional for a team to enter a building and searching for ghosts that may in fact not even be there, until proven otherwise and this dominates our protocols and methods of investigation. The haunting hype was very difficult to shake, but our small group tried our best. We observed everything we could about the building during the daytime, so we would not confuse or assume a practical element is an unexplainable event. Walking through the building we made note of shards of glass, broken and breezy windows on each side, open doorways and vines growing uncontrolled. One of the strange things we noticed during the prelim was the presence of a handful of props and experiments left behind by other investigative teams, from red balls to strategically placed small items that appeared to be outlined. Bats and birds were also present. Large amounts of dirt, dust and small shiny particles blanketed the floor. Broken paint and allergy inducing particles floated through the air when the light hit it just right. Life sized shadows of people painted on the walls. Suggestive graffiti, arrows pointing towards ghost hangouts and crusted over reminisces from yesterday still lay resting within patient rooms. There were just enough natural spooky props to keep the mind a wonder. We took a lot of photos that afternoon, mainly to see what the building really looked like, once darkness set it. Most investigators are aware of how darkness hides reality. We wanted to make sure we had reality tucked into our minds. During our walk through we discussed structural possibilities that could be the culprit of these unbelievable supernatural accounts. We photographed the building inside and out. The main floors were pretty much identical with the exception of the top level and bottom floor and the variations in the amateur artwork, but each floor had a familiar blueprint with the next floor.

After our walkthroughs we headed back to the Hotel to cool off. We had a few hours before dinner and then later the investigation.

That Night

Investigating began around 9:00 upon which we were directed to begin on the first floor on a rotation plan that would have us move floors after set periods of time. The DIEPART team was heading up and getting prepared on their selected floors. There were only 4 members present on our paranormal group. Armed with a few reactive experiments. Night Shot video cameras, digital cameras, standard 35mm, EMF meters, analog and digital recorders, experimental parabolic microphones and other gauges. We were able to transport our technological gadgetry with us. Our controls and equipment were mobile in comparison to the DIEPART team who had stationary units. Flashlights were used at a minimum because of the shards of glass observed during the daytime. We then would circulate to different areas of the first floor to open ourselves up to witness paranormal activity. The reactive experiment was set up in a hallway, which consisted of a lightweight beach ball with some of the air out to avoid rolling in potential wind gusts. The video camera was set up on the experiment for intervals of time then we would relocate it, and we would move to the opposing end of the floor away from the experiment. We were out of sight of reactive testing. Goal with reactive experiment was based on human habit. The ball was strategically placed in a controlled and temporary area with a red light and video camera. This was repeated throughout our investigation. Specifics with our testing will not be made public at this time as it is still in experimentation methods. Bats were everywhere on the first floor. We had to dodge them often as the evening continued.

This protocol was repeated on each floor we visited at the Waverly Hills Sanitarium. Repetitive protocol on each floor was our game plan with the building. Why we adopted such a strict protocol was to utilize a more controlled environment in comparison to what the building was accustomed to. Typically the building offers exciting tours throughout the weekend with investigators and tourists continually walking through the building searching every nook and cranny for specters. , with no hype, no preconceived notions, and no ghostly influences.

Our investigation ended around 3:30 am. It was a long and tiring night and we were ready to get to our comfortable beds. Due to dust and flying debris our allergies were affected in the worse way possible. We have had run our experiments and decided to call it a night.

The Evidence

Is the Waverly Hills Sanitarium “haunted”? Chances are that answer is yes. 63,000 people died there, we are sure there are at least one or two lurking around. Did we witness any of the suggested ghostly activity that so many have reported? The answer is no. Absolutely nothing “paranormal” happened during our investigation of the sanitarium.

Our Investigative Observations

While spending time in the building our team had agreed that there was nothing scary about the place. Most of the time we were sitting ducks to any ghost that would want to make a point. We had to endure a lot of outside influences during our visit. From those who told the spooky tales to those who warned us to “Not talk to the ghosts” or there will be hell to pay, there seemed to be a general consensus that this place was, in fact, extremely haunted to the point of being dangerous.

This overindulgence of hyperbole and near fanaticism creates a fear of the building before anyone is able to go in and create his or her own opinions. It seems to be mandatory that you believe in everything that is told to you otherwise your safety is on the line. From mental threats to throwing bricks or even being pushed down stairs, the fear was injected just as much as the antibiotics were injected to the patients of Waverly Hills so long ago.

The building's personality is one that prepares a person for bad news. Back when in operation people would check into the hospital with the reality that they might never see their homes and families again. Today, the same fear of uncertainty is a harsh reality. Going in these days you are programmed and prepared for the worst. Then once you are in, people are forced to accept it “as is”. No questions, no opinions and no doubt, just the expectation of experiencing something evil.

All the hype about the Waverly Hills Sanitarium has made us realize that just because some condition is expected from a location it certainly does not make it fact. From simple overexposure through such things as exaggerated films, TV shows, horror movies, ghost tours, combined with the unfortunate adaptation of every single type of phenomenon known to man to the location, this building is a victim by itself. We found it strange that there are reports of shadow people and trolls. These reports were too much to take in with such a large community of impressionable believers. We didn’t fall for it.

We felt peace during our visit, and we spent a considerable amount of time discussing how things were verses the gruesome information we were told. The patients of Waverly Hills had one thing on their minds, which was to survive and go home. We all agree that the doctors and nurses did the best they could to help those people survive. We also discussed the infamous “Death Tunnel”. Why would the tunnel be haunted? Nobody died in the tunnel; it is more injected hysteria. We didn’t run around with our EMF meters waiting for them to light up, because we know that when those meters light up, so do the eyes of ghost hunters. We investigated the hospital as people, not ghost hunters. We eliminated hysteria and expectations. We designed our protocol with the building in mind, not our evidence collection. We observed the lighted sky as the wind blew vines and created shadowy images. We observed bats flying up above and frogs croaking piercingly from outside. We observed true natural darkness and allowed the building to be “who it is”. Those who have investigated the unknown for any length of time will agree that some haunted places have a personality. Well, the Waverly Hills Sanitarium has such. Its personality reflects peace, healing and on occasion anger. We did not see shadows that were pretty much guaranteed by some. We did witness things that could be mistaken for paranormal activity. We feel if we were not paying any attention to this building and were caught up in the mythology behind the stories we could have easily got our fill of activity, but we do not operate like that.

We did not collect any classifiable evidence at this location. There was too much pollution present, both physically and emotionally. We heard motorbikes aka “phantom voices”. Audio collected was analyzed but discarded due to contamination. Photos were mostly pointless due to dust and reflective objects on the grounds and within the walls. Video evidence and our reactive experiments did not illustrate any supernatural phenomenon. Our personal witness accounts even as sitting ducks turned out to be inconclusive.

Our team does feel that if we investigated the building while influenced with the publicity and paranormal hype our chances would have increased. We do feel if we abandoned our skeptical and common sense approach down our personal accounts would have increased. We do feel that if we were spellbound with the ghostly tales our Waverly adventure would have been different. We do feel that if we had a guide to teach us what to expect our investigation perhaps may have been more exciting. We feel that if we entered the old hospital with EMF detectors to act as our adrenaline guide that our personal excitement would overrule reality creating unexplainable activity. We feel that if we believed as much as new teams our evidence collection would have questionable articles of evidence to offer our peers. Unfortunately (?) we do not operate like that. We enter even the most haunted places with the correct mindset. We allow the building to be “who it is” without expectations. Sometimes (like this one) we obtain nothing paranormal, while other times we are blown away with classifiable evidence.

Once again, is Waverly Hills one of America’s most haunted/scary places? In our opinion no it is not. Is it haunted? Maybe, but you may have to overlook reality to experience it all. In closing, the patients of Waverly Hills Sanitarium were prepared for death from the moment they entered the hospital doors. Our question is, if they were so prepared why would they stick around to haunt the place? Very few unexpected deaths were recorded in the history. It was a known fact that very few who contracted this disease lived to tell the story. All people die, they do not all become ghosts.

We are discussing returning to the hospital later this year with the best paranormal investigators across the Nation. Maybe the 2^nd time will be better, maybe not.

To be continued….

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http://www.waverlyhillstbsanatorium.com

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