Jeff is a writer, an author, a health and fitness nerd, and, perhaps most importantly, a traveler. "), Meet Wayne Hettinger:How did ignorance help create Thunder Over Louisville? Like those who are known to be pet lovers viciously harming cats. Votes: 439. It could accommodate at least 400 + patients and be considered one of the most modern and well-equipped facilities at the time. They would also retain its enduring name. If the bacteria did become an infection, there was an 80% chance of death at that time. Vandalized, damaged, nearly condemned. 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. Out of room, the hospital had to house these patients on the grounds, under tents. Something for everyone interested in hair, makeup, style, and body positivity. :The bitter feud over Louisville's most famous haunted site. Something had just hurled a brick at us hitting the wall. The management allows tours that can only take place by way of prior reservation. 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. The sanatorium was featured on ABC/FOX Family Channel's Scariest Places On Earth, VH1's Celebrity Paranormal Project, Syfy's Ghost Hunters, Zone Reality's Creepy, the British show Most Haunted, Paranormal Challenge and Ghost Adventures on Travel Channel. Regardless, these medical advances would eventually put facilities such as the Waverly Hills Sanatorium out of business. And the United States abounds with such paranormal tales. A chute was built to aid in disposing dead bodies in such a way that the sick did not have to see them leaving. 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. None of the episode was actually shot at Waverly Hills. After careful planning, Construction began on a new 5-story brick and concrete Sanatorium in March 1924. Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Kentucky opened in 1910 as a facility for treating tuberculosis patients at the height of the early-twentieth century outbreak of the disease. The infamous 600-foot body chute, for instance, that was used to discretely move thousands of corpses through the facility has grown in infamy and is often cited as a place where ghostly experiences take place. An event referred to as the Lbeck disaster, in which a contaminated vaccine ended up killing 72 children in Germany, curtailed the popularity of the BCG vaccine for several years -- even though the vaccine itself was exonerated. An abandoned tuberculosis hospital moulders on into an uncertain future. An American paranormal anthology previewing stories told by the victims. The team is back, and their first stop is straight out of a nightmare. The only building in Louisville (hopefully) that contains two ancient holy skeletons. A homeless man and his dog supposedly fell down the elevator shaft when the building was vacant, and some have seen the. The Waverly Hills Historical Society welcomes you to the official Facebook page of one. Once you went to Waverly Hills, you became a permanent resident on the hill. Oddly enough, despite that fact, many patients received visits from loved ones on visiting day. Previous property owners had no desire to maintain the luster of the building and did little to stop people from slowly destroying her. Among all of the haunted places filled with stories of the supernatural, some of the more popular and indeed most incredibly haunted of these are the many old, abandoned sanitariums and sanatoriums out there. This enlarged building was now capable of housing more than 400 patients. Numerous shadow figures, apparitions of patients, nurses, and doctors, roving cold spots, orbs, anomalous lights, moving objects, locked doors unlocking and opening themselves, electronic equipment going haywire, EVP (electronic voice phenomenon), being accosted by invisible hands, unexplained physical symptoms such as headaches, nausea, and changes to heart rate, you name it, Waverly Hills has it. He started a one-room schoolhouse on Pages Lane and hired Lizzie Lee Harris as the teacher. The shadows were still surrounding us in the halls. So how did Waverly Hills go from a serene and secluded Louisville complex to a site with a supernatural reputation in popular culture? This was a nurses station where a nurse allegedly harmed herself after discovering she was pregnant. 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. Here's what residents told us. Over the following years, Waverly would become a nearly "self contained" community. Also, the treatment methods then practiced would be deemed ridiculous in this century. The owner (Tina) and a security guard say theyve seen lights turn on in this room while they were outside. Tuberculosis treatments advanced in the early 1960s, as an antibiotic that could cure the disease was developed. As no reason has been given for why she would have committed suicide, rumor is, she was actually pushed. The Winchesters is currently airing on Tuesdays on The CW! In 1944, Streptomycin would be developed. But theres Waverly Hills as well. 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. Waverly Hills Sanatorium cannot be accessed via through the golf course. For Courier Journal subscribers:What issues must Louisville's next mayor try to fix? On the other hand, the toll Tuberculosis was exacting in Jefferson County was morphing from bad to worse. From Alabama to Wyoming, there are abandoned towns, amusement parks, and ruins lurking in your home state. It would only become successful when used in combination with other antibiotics. Tours take up to two hours and for good reason, children are not allowed. Search, watch, and cook every single Tasty recipe and video ever - all in one place! To list it all here would be redundant as the spectral troupe at Waverly is arguably the most well-known in America. 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. In 2001, Charles and Tina Mattingly bought the property. Research notes for Supernatural Season 2 Episode 4. Room 502 is said to be so imbued with negative energy and a sense of overwhelming despondency and sadness that it is impossible to stay in there for very long, and is one of the most haunted places in the whole facility. 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. The groups worked in the following years to renovate the property, which grew in popularity as a well-known "haunted" location among the paranormal community, with shows like A&E's "Ghost Hunters" filming on location. So after building up the courage to face whatever it was in the halls and rooms on the 5th floor and exit we had to enter it. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. Its this property that the Board of Tuberculosis would buy in 1908. The crew investigates its dark history and summons spirits that are still roaming the halls of this derelict building. It opened in 1910 as a two-story hospital to accommodate 40 to 50 tuberculosis patients. With Ryan Bergara, Shane Madej, Tina Mattingly, Helen Pan. My friend Chris lost his cool and wanted to bolt out of the place by jumping from the 5th floor roof. Waverly Hills remained closed for about 20 years at that time, as the property fell into disrepair. "Room 502" is also notorious. The original building only housed around 40 people, but by 1926 it had expanded to treat over 500. We couldn't run due to the darkness and the mess the place was in so we held tight on our arms and entered the hall area. In the early 1900s, Jefferson County would experience a surge in Tuberculosis outbreaks. There is also the infamous Room 502, which is haunted by a nurse who once worked here and hung herself in the room after falling into crippling depression from her job, as well as another nurse who also killed herself here by jumping from the window. Death visited daily in those days. Once a state-of-the-art tuberculosis treatment spa, these ruins are now ruled by paintball players. 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. The little TB clinic was filled with more than 140 people, and it was obvious that a much larger hospital was needed to treat those afflicted with the condition. People believed that fresh air and sunlight would help alleviate the symptoms of Tuberculosis. The roof of Waverly Hills is also said to be rather intensely haunted, and one dramatic encounter was related on the site True Ghost Tales, by a witness who says: My friends and I went out on the roof and just hung out thinking about the stories we heard about the place when we began to see figures moving around in the dark inside the area of the 5th floor where the patients were bedded outside for air. It is part of the Waverly Hills Haunted House tour, which draws waves of haunted house lovers, along with parents and children. Visitation is only available during Historical Society events. It was purchased in 2001 by current owners Charlie and Tina Mattingly, who founded the Waverly Hills Historical Society two years later. Chris then began to run down the hall and we gave chase. During the Halloween season, Waverly Hills turns itself into a thrilling Haunted House. 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. Reporting on what you care about. Since the new home was far away from any existing schools, Mr. Hays decided to open a local school for his daughters to attend. In 1962 the hospital was purchased by the state and used as a nursing home. Hays would later start a one-room schoolhouse within the compound and hire a teacher. 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. Spookiest Stories Ever: Four Seasons of Kentucky Ghosts, Tuberculosis (also known as TB, consumption, the White Death, or the White Plague) is a highly communicable bacterial infection contracted by breathing in air containing. 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. There are many reports of the infamous shadow people of Waverly Hills. To this effect the original facility consisted of two open-air pavilions which housed 40 victims of the disease. He had a small schoolhouse built on Pages Lane and hired schoolteacher Lizzie Lee Harris to teach his three daughters. Its also believed that patients whose infection spread to the brain, rendering them insane, were sent to the 5th floor. Tuberculosis was becoming an epidemic in Valley Station, Pleasure Ridge Park, and other parts of Jefferson County in Kentucky. It would close in 1961, and reopen the following year as Woodhaven Geriatric Center, before closing its medical business twenty years later. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. Another buildingin a distinctively Gothic architectural designwould be constructed. During the late 1800s, roughly one in five deaths (20%) was attributed to tuberculosis. Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico).