|
|
| True Kentucky Ghost Stories
|
|
|
Waverly Hills Sanatorium
Louisville, Kentucky
In 1883 Major Thomas H. Hays bought the land Waverly Hills Sanatorium stands on and built a one room school for his daughters. The school was named Waverley School by the woman Major Hays hired to teach the girls, Lizzie Lee Harris. The property was later named Waverley Hill by the Major and when the board of Tuberculosis Hospital bought the land they kept the name. Construction on the hospital began in 1908 as a two-story building, designed to accommodate forty to fifty tuberculosis patients, and was opened on July 26, 1910. Tuberculosis, also known as “White plague” or “Consumption” because it seemed to consume people from within, was a highly infectious disease that commonly attacked the lungs and claimed the lives of over sixty three thousand people in Kentucky. These people had to be isolated from the rest of the population in order to control the spread of the disease. The number of infected people rose very quickly and the small fifty patient hospital was being overwhelmed. It was decided that a much larger Sanatorium had to be built to accommodate all these people.  Construction began in March of 1924 and on October 17th, 1926 the doors were opened. Waverly Hills was considered to be the most advanced tuberculosis hospital in the country and if a patient was going to survive the disease, Waverly Hills was the place to come for treatment. Back then, it was believed that the best cure for tuberculosis was plenty of rest, protein and fresh air. Many patients actually were cured and returned to society but thousands of people died inside Waverly Hills from the dreadful disease. There were no antibiotics to treat tuberculosis in the 1920s so they had to rely on natural remedies. Bed rest was believed to be a major contributor the treatment on tuberculosis. Patients were kept in their beds out on the solarium porch year round. Even in the winter patients would be kept out in the fresh air with electric blankets to keep them warm. This is the reason electric blankets were invented. There were no windows in the solarium. The windows had screens in them but no glass. This is so the air could circulate through the building and carry away the germs the patients would spread. Patients were also required to eat as much protein as they could to help build up their immune systems so their body could fight off the disease. Another form of treatment used at Waverly Hills was Heliotherapy. Heliotherapy refers the use of the sun for treating tuberculosis. The sun acts as a bactericide killing the organisms that cause the disease. Sunlamps were also used in the Sanatorium when conditions outside were too bad for the patients. Other, more dangerous forms of treatment were Pneumothorax and Thoracoplasty. Pneumothorax was a technique used to collapse or deflate a portion of the lung allowing it to heal. This would also seal off any holes created by the disease. Thoracoplasty involved opening the patient’s chest and removing up to seven ribs. The surgeons felt it was only safe to remove two or three ribs at a time so the patient would have to have several surgeries before the procedure was complete. This procedure was only performed after all other forms of treatment did not help the patient and only five percent of patients actually survived it. Those who did survive were left deformed. Lobectomy was also used as a form of treatment. This is when a lobe (portion) of the lung is cut away to remove the infection. The method they used to remove the bodies of the dead patients was to transport them down a steam tunnel, know as The Death Tunnel. The bodies would be loaded onto a cart that would run down the tunnel on rails to the awaiting hearse at the bottom of the hill. The tunnel was used as a way to hide the many deaths from the rests of the patients. The staff believed that if the patients saw the hearses rolling in daily to pick up the dead they would  get discouraged and lose all hope. On one side of the tunnel there were stairs which the staff would use to get to work in the winter because it was much warmer than walking outside. By the late 1930s tuberculosis was on the decline because of all the experiments conducted worldwide. In 1943, Albert Schatz, a graduate student at Rutgers University discovered Streptomycin, an antibiotic to fight the disease. This antibiotic helped abolish tuberculosis and in 1961, because there was no longer a need for a tuberculosis hospital, Waverly Hills closed its doors. In 1962 the building reopened as Woodhaven Geriatrics Sanitarium. Woodhaven gained the reputation of having horrible conditions and abusing patients. In 1980 by order of the court, Woodhaven was shut down. Thousands of people have died inside Waverly Hills Sanatorium and many have refused to leave. There are numerous accounts of paranormal activity in and around the building. Some of the stories are real, others I find kind of hard to believe. The first story involves a young boy and his ball. He is known to frequent the second floor and likes to play with visitors. If you find the ball and throw it, the boy will bring it back to you. People have reported hearing and seeing the ball in many locations in the building. The next a possibly the best known story surrounding Waverly Hills revolves around room 502. It was just outside this room that a young nurse hung herself. The pipe that she hung herself from is still visible. People who enter this room, especially women, do feel queasy and week in the knees. When we visited Waverly in June of 2008, my case manager did get really weak in the knees when she entered this room and almost fell. She did manage to stay in the room and snap a few pictures before leaving. While standing outside the room listening to the story of the nurse, she also had a soothing humming in her ear as if someone was humming a baby to sleep. Also outside of room 502 we managed to catch some interesting evps. We didn’t hear anything when we were there but upon listening to the recording you can clearly hear old fashioned music playing. This was recorded twice during our visit. The fourth floor, to me seems to be the most haunted. While we were standing in the hallway near the stairs we were told of a big black shadowy figure so aptly named “Big Black.” He is a mean entity who is known to slap, punch and push. While listening to the story of “Big Black” we were staring down the long hallway and we heard something in the distance. After a few seconds we realized it was just water dripping but then I got the shock of my life. I continued to stare down the hall and began to hear something running towards me. I couldn’t see anything but I could follow it with my eyes. I know it sounds crazy but that’s the only way I can explain it. I followed it down the entire length of the hallway and it stopped right in front of my face. Needless to say it startled me and I jumped. I asked if anyone else in the group experienced this but they did not. We also witnessed shadows dodging in and out of doorways and looking around corners apparently at us. We continued down the hall until we reached one of the surgery rooms. Very creepy, with some of the original wireless hanging from the ceiling. While we were in this room we decided to stand near the back close to wall. Facing the center of the room with our backs against the wall and nobody behind us, my case manager said someone poked her in the back of the head. Other experiences include but are not limited to disembodied voices, full figured apparitions, doors slamming and eerie noises. In the morgue you can find original sliding tables that bodies were kept on. They have been known to slide out on their own. The tables are very old and hard to move but they still manage to move by themselves. People have reported seeing lights on in areas where there is no electricity. There has even been a report of seeing a television running in one of the rooms. Upon investigation nothing was there. Around the cafeteria the smell of fresh bread and food cooking has been smelled. People have also reported seeing a man in a doctor’s coat wandering the area. We heard all the stories about Waverly Hills so we decided to make the long trip to Kentucky just to visit the massive building. We were not disappointed. We recommend that anyone who enjoys the paranormal and anyone who is skeptical about ghosts and the paranormal go to Waverly Hills and experience it for themselves.
More Waverly Hills Pictures
     
|
|
|
|
|
|
