Louisville’s Scariest Landmark: Waverly Hills Sanatorium

Louisville is home to the Waverly Hill Sanatorium, which is a building in the Pleasure Ridge Park area of the city that used to be a hospital for tuberculosis patients in the early 20th century. TB is a lethal bacterial infection that usually affects the lungs, and it reached epidemic proportions before cures were discovered.

Without medicine to cure the potentially contagious disease, TB-stricken patients were sent to sanitoriums such as Waverly in hopes of being cured, but often to just live out their time until the disease got the best of them. Waverly was considered one of the top TB hospitals in America, and could accommodate at least 400 patients.

Luckily, antibiotics to help alleviate TB were discovered in the 1950s, and the disease became less prevalent, lowering the demand for places like Waverly.

Due to the large number of deaths that occurred at the current Waverly building between its opening in 1926 to its closure in 1961, many claim the premises is haunted. There have been claims and reports of ghostly apparitions now that it is a tourist attraction, and the building is open as a haunted house during the month of October, with paranormal and historical tours are also available to schedule.

Several lame TV shows investigating paranormal activities, such as SciFi’s GhostHunters and VH1′s Celebrity Paranormal Project, have visited Waverly in hopes of searching out the supernatural, and boosting their lowly ratings.

If the building truly is haunted, it seems the ghosts would be none too happy with the haunted house and the tours, as this almost seems to make a mockery of their presence.

One of the creepiest parts of Waverly Hills is the body chute, which was a large tunnel originally constructed so employees would have a safer way to get up the large hill where the hospital sits. In this 500-foot long tunnel, it is pretty much pitch black, with the exception of vent shafts located about every 100 feet to let in a little light and provide some ventilation. The tunnel was also used to cart supplies up to the facility, but it was eventually used to transport the bodies of those who had passed, that way they were out of sight for fellow patients.

This was probably a good strategy move by Waverly management, as seeing your friends wheeled out the front door into a hearse can’t be good for morale.

Mad props have to be given to the Waverly staff, as they were forced to live in buildings on the Waverly campus due to the contagious nature of the disease. Thankfully, antibiotics and medicine have made TB very rare in our society today.

At Waverly and TB’s peak, alternate healing methods were used to help alleviate the pain for patients. Virtually all windows in the building were kept open, as the open air helped the wheezing and coughing patients suffered, as well as airing out the germs. Lots of arts and crafts time and other hands-on activities were also practiced in attempt to keep the patients’ mind of their affliction. Once radio was invented, it was also a prevalent feature in sanatoriums, allowing bed-resting folks to get some entertainment.

Too bad there were no video games or flat-screen TVs in this era, as they would have made welcome additions for staff and sufferers alike.

To learn more about Waverly Hills, go to their official website, thewaverlyhills.com.