Faint Hearted Beware-The Haunting Of Waverly Hill Sanatorium
June 9, 2007
In 1920 there was an outbreak of tuberculosis in Kentucky. In 1926, the Waverly Hills Sanatorium of Louisville accommodated all these infected patients. In those days, tuberculosis was known as white plague. It is said that 63,000 people – men, women and children of all ages have died here. At that time, there was no cure for tuberculosis so eventually those infected had to die. It was just a matter of time who would be next. Only the residents of the Jefferson country could get admission here and the rest of the people were turned away. This article will give you an insight to some of the paranormal activities that have been noted and recorded.
The Waverly Hill Sanatorium is 800,000 square foot structure, a place of death and suffering. It is dormant and vacant to the naked eye but when visited the senses feel uneasy and hear the voices of those who once lived here. There is a 525 foot “death tunnel” where all the dead bodies were dumped daily and sometimes the death toll increased by the hour. Bizarre experiments have been performed here in the hope for some kind of cure. Finally in 1953, the cure of tuberculosis was found. In 1961, this place was remodeled and was turned into a nursing home. In 1982, it was shutdown.
Paranormal investigators have thronged this place for years with their EMF meters (Electromagnetic Field) and EVP (Electro Voice Phenomenon) devices and have measured a lot of activity. They record the empty halls and then filtered the sound for clarity. They have recorded voices saying,”How you doing?”, “Back Off”, “I’m three years old.”Besides this, there have been many sightings of children. The most common apparition is that of a child holding a ball. Ghost tours are organized frequently and tourists feel cold spots, out of breath, some get a feeling of sadness and weariness especially in the corridor which was designed to remove the dead bodies. This building is five storied, designed in a curve so that there is good air supply. Those days the patients were told that sunlight was the best way to get treated. So beds were made in the open verandahs to get fresh air and sunshine.
The first floor had the x-ray room, administration offices, library, gift shop, an autopsy room and a small dining area. This was known as the death wing where 20,000 bodies could be stored at a time. There was a draining room where the dead bodies were hung upside down and the blood was drained out. Then it was pushed down to the sewage. There was also a septic tank to put the bodies. Every floor had dining area so the members of that floor could eat together.The body chute or the death tunnel is 525 foot long and was connected from the first floor. Earlier supplies were stored here. It was easy because it was connected with a railroad. The steam from the train, kept this area warm and cozy and people came down here in winters. Later, bodies were dumped and kept and then transported to their families by the same railway. The body count increased in such rapid numbers that they had to keep them away from the ones who were still alive and suffering. Seeing the bodies would demoralize them so they quietly dumped them here.
The second floor consisted of the kitchen where over two thousand meals were prepared in a day. The other rooms were the cafeteria, dining hall, treatment rooms and solarium. The paranormal teams and many people on ghost tours have said that they smelled pancakes and the aroma of freshly baked bakery products on this floor. The general public stayed in the second and the third floors. There was known to be a haunting of a missing girl on the third floor. People walking the huge ground always find shadows of people peeping from the windows of the third floor. Visitors find tapping on the floorboards while some people have seen an apparition of a girl without any eyes. Some have seen a leather ball bouncing around but no one was seen playing with it.The fourth floor was for the rich people. The patients were provided with their own private bathrooms. Here major surgery would take place as it was only the rich who could afford them. A lot of research was done here to find a cure and patients were willing to try them out. This floor had a recovery room, a solarium and a tanning room. Those patients who had visitors they would use this tanning facility to gain some color so that they would not make the visitors feel repulsed or sympathetic seeing their deteriorating condition. Investigators have found a lot of orbs here, along with face apparition, cold spots, temperature drops and bare footed prints.
The fifth floor was for heliotherapy. It was divided into two areas. The patients with mental instability were segregated from the general problem if they were difficult to manage. Here in room 502, a twenty-seven year, unmarried nurse had hung herself from a light fixture. The shame of being an unwed mother lead to her suicide. Some people say that she aborted her fetus and performed this act. It is said that the patients watched this body hang for twelve hours before the authorities were informed. Other versions said that she had jumped from a window. This area is said to give the visitors a sense of sadness and despair which the nurse must have felt when she was dying. Many sensitive people have known to burst into tears here.
From 1963-1980 this place was known as Woodhaven, a nursing home where people who were neglected at old age were left here to die. In 1982, this place was closed down because there were many complaints of patient abuse. Some said that they were tortured and given electric shocks.
This place is a good place to experience paranormal activities and for those who want to know how it feels getting spooked. But it is certainly not for the faint hearted ones. For them this article is sure to run a chill down their spine.
©Nayna Chakrabarty, 2007. All Rights Reserved.
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