A Tour Of Waverly Hills Sanatorium, Haunted Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky

My wife and I love those shows on the Travel Channel where they visit haunted houses and tell the ghost stories behind them. Last year, we went to visit one of the most reportedly haunted places in the country, Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky. Waverly Hills is gigantic building that was once used as a hospital during a severe Tuberculosis epidemic in the early part of the 20^th Century. The facility has deteriorated over the years from disuse, vandalism, and age. Having grown up in Louisville, I remember that kids used to break into the hospital at night, lured by ghost tales. Of course, they would drink, smoke dope or vandalize until the police arrived to chase them away. Now, we were being led through the building in large groups by tour guides. Before the tour, we watched clips from cable television shows that featured Waverly Hills and its ghosts.

One thing about the facility that struck me was the amazing size of the hospital. The epidemic was wide spread, and there were thousands and thousands afflicted with the disease. Although doctors tried valiantly to treat the patients, the facility was purposed as a place to quarantine the afflicted patients until their inevitable deaths. Thousands upon thousands of people died at the hospital, but not before enduring maddening pain.

Our tour guide told us fascinating stories about the ghosts who inhabited the building. In one of the deserted hallways, she talked about "Timmy", a little boy who would sometimes whisper and play with people who happened through there. She reported that people rolled a ball down the hall, and a few seconds later, the ball would come rolling back to them.

Another hallway was reported to be a place where "shadow people" wandered the halls. The tour group was told to look for the shadows of people roaming up and down the corridor. Many people in our group saw them.

The infamous room 502 was the site where a nurse committed suicide. She was an unmarried young lady who had an affair with one of the doctors, and was pregnant by him. Our tour guide warned us that people often felt discomfort in that room. Some became nauseous, and some fainted. She told the story of another nurse who, for no apparent reason, flung herself out of one of the windows in room 502. It is reported that some people have seen an apparition of a ghastly nurse dressed in a white uniform in this room.

Another eerie part of the tour was the "body chute". It was a tunnel from the hospital down to the road, originally built so that the hospital workers could bring food and supplies up from the road to the hospital. The tour guide told us that the hospital started to utilize this tunnel to take dead bodies out-so that the surviving patients wouldn't have to see the huge numbers of bodies being wheeled out the front door on a daily basis. We were allowed to walk up and down the tunnel, which may have been one of the eeriest parts of the tour.

There is now a plan to turn this hospital into a hotel.

Here's the good part of the review. The building is truly eerie. It is huge and imposing and in such a poor state of condition, that the mind conjures up images of the spirits and ghouls that must truly haunt these halls. The view from the roof is breath taking. While wandering through the halls, I got the tingles; and the hair stood up on the back of my neck when our guide told her stories about the ghosts.

Here's the part I didn't like: They kept the lights out in the buildings. They allowed us to use flashlights to get up and down the stairs, but they asked us to turn them out while walking through the rooms and hallways. They explained that the ghosts are scared away by lights, and that the experience would be more intense if we left the lights off. I was disappointed because I couldn't see any of the architectural details or much of anything else in the building. I muttered to my wife that we paid good money to go sight-"seeing" in the dark. I think that if they had put in some dim, ghost friendly lighting, we could see more of the spooky dilapidation of the building, and it would add to the experience. One good thing about Waverly is that they conduct a historical tour during the day. You can go up there and actually see the facility in daylight. I would be interested in doing this tour sometime.

Another thought that crossed my mind is that the place was a lot scarier back in the days when kids would sneak in by themselves. The thought of running into a ghost was scary enough, but the fright was heightened by the possibility of getting busted by the police. Going through with a tour guide and a group of sight-seers took the edge off of the experience. But as I am older now, going through the other way no longer appeals to me.

This is a great building. It is on the register of historic places. The owners are using the proceeds of their tour to repair and restore this beautiful building. They are to be commended for their efforts. That is one major reason why I'm glad to have gone on the tour. It was well worth the time and admission.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waverly_Hills_Sanatorium

http://www.therealwaverlyhills.com/index.htm

http://fox41.com/Global/story.asp?S=8808740