A homeless man and his dog supposedly fell down the elevator shaft when the building was vacant, and some have seen the. In 1962, the building reopened as a nursing home that eventually became known as Woodhaven Medical Services, a geriatric facility. The numbers are hard to believe, however. Over the next several years, the main building as well as surrounding structures fell into a state of abandonment. Director Philip Adrian Booth Writers Christopher Saint Booth Construction on the first hospital began in 1908 in a quiet space atop a hill, where it was thought patients would be at peace and receive lots of fresh air (and stay far from crowded areas). Very little of this part of Waverly has fallen down, and the structure itself is still safe. Located on the south end of Jefferson County and now in the city limits of Louisville, Kentucky, the building, with its distinctive tower, was designed by D. X. Murphy and opened in 1926, adding four hundred additional beds to Waverly Hills facilities for tuberculosis patients. Youtube user Dead Explorer perfectly captured what its like to walk through the tunnel in the video above. Please now use the Bobby Nichols Golf Course Gate entrance at 4400 Paralee Drive off of East Pages Lane. Can I visit any abandoned places in Kentucky? It was two stories tall and had only enough space for 40 patients in early stages of TB. All rights reserved. During the late 1800s, roughly one in five deaths (20%) was attributed to tuberculosis. Movies were shown and crafts were made to keep patients in high spirits. Even those who don't believe in ghosts enjoy the site for its history, its controversy, or for its popularity. The two TB sanatoriums were open for a total of 51 years, which means that 3 to 4 people would have died every single day. & Historical Research GroupAll files, pictures, video, E.V.P., articles, trademarks; etc. but patients families still visited them on designated visitors days, lol. With little knowledge of how to fight the illness, the creators of Waverly Hills based their treatment on quarantine, fresh air, and a positive attitude. They were buried by passing through the death tunnel. It has a somewhat mysterious and sinister past. ome improvement began to present itself in those who spent a restful retreat in the mountains. It has a somewhat mysterious and sinister past & W.G.C. A total of 63,000 people lost their lives up until 1961, the year when the hospital was closed. With the constant increase in the number of patients and the inability to find a solution, the patients started to lose their minds and started suffering. As the outbreak spread, the facility needed to be expanded and, in 1912, the larger building was built and patients from a number of surrounding hospitals were transferred to the facility. The first Waverly Hills Sanatorium building opened on July 26, 1910. Laundry facilities, a maintenance garage, butchery, as well as several hundred acres of farm land were established on the Hill.. This is an active project so check back often for updates. In 1873, Agatha Logan Marshall wrote matter-of-factly to her brother-in-law Thomas W. Bullitt about her recent diagnosis of consumption and her concerns about her future well-being and economic security: Dr Bush made an examination of my lungs and told me they were very seriously involveda fact I have known all alongof course I am in no immediate danger for consumption is a lingering disease but I have no hope or expectation of ever being well again and I am very anxious if possible to have my little prosperity so it will yield me an income. Marshall aptly characterized consumption as a lingering disease, one in which symptoms could come and go and progress slowly over years. Fewer than 5% of patients initially survived. If you get lost the address to the Golf Course is 4301 East Pages Lane, Louisville, KY 40272. In an attempt to to contain the disease, a Board of Tuberculosis Hospital was established in 1906. However, after massive protest from the surrounding area, the plan was dropped. Research notes for Supernatural Season 2 Episode 4. Its believed that tuberculosis has claimed roughly. I am somewhat a cliche'. The hospital, known as Waverly Hills, was opened in 1926 and was considered to be the most advanced tuberculosis hospital in the country. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book. There are currently 10 different medications available in the US to treat tuberculosis. One story has it that in 1928, one of the nurses, Mary Hillenburg, hung herself in room 502. - 1920 Census Report30 - 1930 Census Report However it wouldnt be until 1949 when Streptomycin would be available to the patients at Waverly Hills. Deep under the hospital is the "Death Tunnel" which once were used to secretly remove the dead from the grounds. They do this through offering tours, am annual haunted house held on the main buildings first floor, as well hosting private events in the restored laundry room. Something for everyone interested in hair, makeup, style, and body positivity. Even taking into account the extra 19 years that the geriatric hospital was in operation, more than 2 people would have had to die on-premises on average every day for 70 years. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. We wouldnt want you to end up in the hospital, or worse, jail. In the early 1900s, Jefferson County was ravaged by an outbreak of tuberculosis - known as the "White Plague" - which prompted the construction of a new hospital. The first antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis was called streptomycin, and it was discovered by American biologists in 1943. In 1912, patients in advanced stages of infection were moved from from the City Hospital to Waverly Hills Sanatorium. * followed by year - Died at WHS/WGC in that year, Copyright 2003, 2004 This list is organized by date of death and not by name. mentioned or used within Discover unique things to do, places to eat, and sights to see in the best destinations around the world with Bring Me! 2715 North Charles StreetBaltimore, Maryland, USA 21218. Search, watch, and cook every single Tasty recipe and video ever - all in one place! Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, Kentucky. 2023 Atlas Obscura. Hays later sold the land to the Board of Tuberculosis Hospital, and they built the sanatorium there, adopting the name, to house a rapidly increasing number of tuberculosis patients. Not much was known scientifically about tuberculosis at that point -- but it was clearly very contagious, and it was common practice to quarantine TB patients away from the population. Originally a heating duct, this tunnel was also used by the staff to climb the hill in bad weather. They would not be subjected to seeing dead patients taken away for burial/burning. The warm, wet weather in Kentucky near the Ohio River was a breeding place for bacteria, and insects often helped to spread disease. Its believed that, at one point, he hospital was tending to as many as 140 patients. Since there was no cure for tuberculosis in those days, anyone who caught this disease was brought to this hospital in a sense to be separated away from society. KDR - Kentucky Death RecordsS - SubmittedNP - NewspaperO - Other20 Bodies were not dumped but rather carried down the tunnel to the bottom of the hill, where they could be collected by a hearse, as there was no cemetery at the hospital. During the World War, the U.S. found the tunnel to be safe in the case of an attack. var tlxLastPublishedDate = null; var now = new Date(); var edited = (tlxLastPublishedDate != null) ? Key: Once a state-of-the-art tuberculosis treatment spa, these ruins are now ruled by paintball players. Records have been lost, but it is estimated that tens of thousands died at Waverly. Then, the tuberculosis epidemic began to spread in Jefferson County, and the hospital could not keep up. Over the following years, Waverly would become a nearly self contained community. Its supposedly around 500 feet long and leads down the hill. Reporting on what you care about. will be confirmed information either by photograph, news article, and/ or historical archive of some kind. It wasnt until 1882 that Robert Koch published a paper identifying this bacillus for the first time. The statue, which was inspired by the famedstatue of Christ onCorcovadoMountain inRio de Janeiro, would have been designed by local Louisville sculptorEd Hamiltonand architect Jasper Ward. Meet MasterChef Gordon Ramsays Children - Who are They? Treatment for tuberculosis, an infectious bacterial disease . Romania: Castles, Ruins, and Medieval Villages, Iceland in Summer: Journey Through a Fabled Land, Monster of the Month w/ Colin Dickey: Mokele-Mbembe, Accidental Discoveries: A Celebration of Historical Mistakes, Antiques and Their Afterlives: Stories from the Collection of Ryan and Regina Cohn, Monster of the Month w/ Colin Dickey: Satanists, Once Upon a Time: Fairy Tale Writing With Anca Szilgyi, Gourds Gone Wild: Growing and Crafting Gourds With Gourdlandia, Playing Ancient Games: History & Mythology With John Bucher, Secrets of Tarot Reading: History & Practice With T. Susan Chang, Why 18th-Century Scots Performed Mock Human Sacrifices Over Cake. Symptoms of tuberculosis include: a lasting cough, chest pains, fever, loss of appetite / weight loss, hills, sweating, and coughing up blood. Louisville's Waverly Hills Sanatorium has been called "the most terrifying building in America," with an infamous history that draws paranormal thrill-seekers from all over the world.Lately, the . No, it is actually a long tunnel with flooring. Locals place their offerings on this nightmarish gnarled tree so the witches won't summon another storm. Buildings were added to the institution in 1912, 1916, and 1926. A childrens pavilion was built in 1916 that housed 40 children and included a schoolroom. & W.G.C. Photographs, text, illustrations and all other media not authored by KHI belong to their respective authors/owners/copyright holders and are used here for educational purposes only under Title 17 U.S. Code 107. These records shed light on public services that often reached across lines of class and race. Create a website or blog at WordPress.com, Historical Case Studies in Crime & Punishment, Infirmaries and Poorhouses: Image Gallery, Transylvania University Medical Department, University of Louisville Medical Department, Kentucky Institution for Feeble Minded Children, Covington-Kenton County Tuberculosis Sanatorium, Madisonville State Tuberculosis Sanatorium, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. The land that the Waverly Hills Sanatorium sits on was purchased by a wealthy military man, Major Thomas H. Hays, in 1883. It opened as a 40 room hospital and they found that they needed to add on very quickly. Room 502 has a reputation due to the two suicides that supposedly occurred there. Due to the rapid increase of Tuberculosis cases, the original hospital was soon to capacity. 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. Previous property owners had no desire to maintain the luster of the building and did little to stop people from slowly destroying her. Rumors VS. Facts, 10+ of Hollywood's Most Famous Twins Listed, 7 Best Horror Audiobooks of 2022 that Will Make Your Spine Chill, 8 Best British Crime Series on Netflix: Crime Series, the English Way, 9 Best Comedies on HBO Max to Watch Right Now, 10+ Best Stand-up Comedy Specials on Netflix: Tickle your funny bone with the best comedy shows, 10 Best Anime Series on Netflix (Updated), 10 Best True Crime Podcasts to Keep You Up at Night, 10 Best Movies To Watch On Disney+ For All Ages (Updated! The Child-Eating Bunyip Haunts Australias Wetlands. He had a small schoolhouse built on Pages Lane and hired schoolteacher Lizzie Lee Harris to teach his three daughters. If left untreated, the bacteria would begin to eat away at the lungs and could spread throughout the body -- consuming it. Nestled in the Ohio Valley, Louisville doesnt get a proper amount of fresh air flow. The Waverly Hills Sanatorium was closed in 1961; it was first quarantined and then renovated. Waverly Hills Memorial Vital Statistics Original Death Certificates Microfilm (1911-1964). Waverly Hills Sanatorium sits on land that was originally purchased by Major Thomas H. Hays in 1883. Construction on the second hospital was underway in March 1924. The Halloween season draws much larger crowds and lots of fright enthusiasts. (Please get in the death tunnel.). This website wouldbe Trellix. A tunnel connecting to the base of the hill was also built so that workers and supplies could be ferried to the facility at the top of the hill. . In later years, the property was repeatedly vandalized, and landowners didnt seem to care much about upkeep on the building -- which was nearly condemned. KEY: S - Submitted NP - Newspaper Article KDR - Kentucky Death Records TB - Waverly Hills Sanatorium G - Woodhaven Geriatrics Center 20 - 1920 Census Report At the same time they also reveal stark racial disparities in mortality rates and institutional treatment. The same problems persisted, as well as suicides of the patients. It was thought that doing so would close up the small holes that tuberculosis causes. It is said that 63,000 people died at Waverly Hills over the years, but that is just what records . Charlie claims John told him he was one of the people who found the nurse and confirmed that there had been a lot of blood and a baby -- and that because it was so taboo at the time, the death wouldnt have been recorded. Tina and Charlie Mattingly bought the property in 2001 with the aim of completely restoring it. Several people have claimed shadowy figures have peered around corners at them. Many of these materials are courtesy of other sources and the original copyright holders retain all applicable rights under the law. Offer subject to change without notice. Spooked: The Ghosts of Waverly Hillsis a horror film about events that took place in thehospital. It's a place where the smell of death is hidden, and where the painful screams are still in the air. Later it was leased to a private nursing firm and the name was changed to Woodhaven Geriatric Center. Please remember that information contained on this site, authored/owned by KHI, is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. At the height of the tuberculosis epidemic, it is reported that one patient an hour died. Waverly Hills Sanatorium sits on land that was originally purchased by Major Thomas H. Hays in 1883. Major Hays was in need of a school for his daughters to attend, so he started a one-room schoolhouse that was located on Pages Lane. Cemeteries often become the center for ghost stories and spooky tales, and there are several haunted cemeteries in Kentucky youll want to check out if youre in the mood to do a little paranormal investigating. During its time as a hospital, Waverly Hills would sadly see many deaths. In the nineteenth century, tuberculosis killed as many as one in seven people in the United States. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. The video above is the movies trailer posted by YouTube Movies & Shows. This company operated the nursing home facility until 1982 when it was closed by the state for violations and the mistreatment of patients. Official Waverly Hills Sanatorium/ Woodhaven Geriatric Center Memorial & Historical Resource. As no reason has been given for why she would have committed suicide, rumor is, she was actually pushed. A young boy named Timmy or Tim has been seen rolling a blue rubber ball. One of the creepier Waverly Hills legends is a room near the morgue dubbed the draining room, where dead bodies were supposedly hung on hooks and cut open top to bottom to rid them of infected fluids. The Waverly Hills Sanatorium Body Chute in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the most haunted places in the United States. In Stewarts autobiography, he recalls that the highest number of deaths in any year that he worked at the sanatorium was 153, and that most of the worst years followed World War II, when soldiers returned, infected, from overseas. The second purpose was to protect those who had to transport the dead to the pickup spot to be laid to rest. Some time before the property was purchased in 2001, a story circulated about a group of teenage boys who snuck into the sanatorium. Respect all signs posted and never trespass on private property. The 1920 & 1930 census reports were all hand written. The Waverly Hills death tunnel actually was considered a sanctuary during an air raid and held enough space to fit everyone in the building safely. Over the following years the population of Waverly began to decrease until it closed in June 1961. A new sanatorium opened on October 17, 1926 that could accommodate 400-500 patients. Waverly Hills Sanatorium once housed hundreds, perhaps thousands of tuberculosis patients during a major, years-long outbreak in Jefferson County, Kentucky the building that still stands today is said to be haunted by those who died there. After being vacant for almost a year, the building was reopened in 1962 asWoodhaven Geriatric Center, a nursing home primarily treating aging patients with various stages of dementia and mobility limits, as well as the severely mentally handicapped. The Waverly Hills Historical Society continue to work tirelessly and devote their lives to restoring the historic gem that is Waverly Hills to its once amazing splendor! The Filson Historical Society holds a wide range of collections documenting individual experiences of tuberculosis and collective efforts to manage the disease. TB - Tuberculosis PatientG - Geriatric Patient We now have a patient death index for patients that died at Waverly Hills starting in 1911. As the state of the patients worsened, people began to die in the facility on an almost-daily basis. In March 1996, Robert Alberhasky bought Waverly Hills. Louisville, KY, is home to the Waverly Hills Sanatorium, which many people believe is one of the most haunted places on Earth. The most common treatment at the time was sunlight, fresh air, and nutritious food. He went as far as using a bulldozer to undermine the foundation, but the building refused to collapse. Horror For an initiation stunt, five college women are locked in a Kentucky hospital built in 1910 where 63,000 people died from a disease known as the "white plague". Some of the names were difficult if not impossible to read. The facility served as a tuberculosis hospital until 1961 when the discovery of an antibiotic that successfully treated and cured TB rendered the facility obsolete. Originally, Waverly Hills Sanatorium was a two-story frame building with a hipped roof and half-timbering. Before we go any further, its important to note that abandoned places can be extremely dangerous and many are off-limits to the public. If you want to visit, make your plans early! The path towards the light connected to the main building via a railway system on the first floor of the original hospital. Some of the names were difficult if not impossible to read. Project MUSE promotes the creation and dissemination of essential humanities and social science resources through collaboration with libraries, publishers, and scholars worldwide. Love Kentucky? The second e was dropped at some point.). It was considered very state-of-the-art for its day. We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the worlds hidden wonders. The institution was reopened as WoodHaven Medical Services, a geriatrics hospital in 1962, but closed in 1980 under allegations of patient abuse. In 1911, the new City Hospital relocated all of their TB cases to Waverly Hills, which had erected tents on the grounds to accomodate the overflow. The massive structure looms large in the history of tuberculosis in Louisville, but it was not the only means of combating the citys high rates of the disease. The Midwestern United States' tribute to Michelangelo is a foam statue sprayed with gaudy gold paint. This video by Youtube user JustAVideoPage shows a hauntingly beautiful collage of many faces that may have eventually traveled down the death tunnel. These include nineteenth-century correspondence, diaries, and medical publications in which Kentuckians wrote of debilitating symptoms and possible treatments. This list does not included patient data from the geriatric center after inpatient tuberculosis treatment had stopped. (Note the slightly different spelling of Waverley here. Patients in every condition were accepted including those in early stages to those in the final stages. Waverly Hills Memorial Create a website or blog at WordPress.com, Historical Case Studies in Crime & Punishment, Infirmaries and Poorhouses: Image Gallery, Transylvania University Medical Department, University of Louisville Medical Department, Kentucky Institution for Feeble Minded Children, Covington-Kenton County Tuberculosis Sanatorium, Madisonville State Tuberculosis Sanatorium, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. memorial. Nothing that went down the death tunnel ever came back up. . The area known today as Waverly Hill was purchased by Major Thomas H. Hays in 1883 as the Hays family home. During the Halloween season, Waverly Hills turns itself into a thrilling Haunted House. Waverly Hills was later reportedly given $11 million dollars with which to build a new, larger hospital. Waverly Hills became known outside of the area when the TV series The Scariest Places on Earth profiled the institution in 2001. 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. Our objective is the facts as we are a resource. Even with the building of additional pavilions, space for patients was consistently at a minimal. Some have reported seeing shapes near the window in room 502 and even a voice saying, Get out.. These dead patients were taken to the burial site through the tunnels known as the 490-foot (150-meter Death Tunnel), one of the most famous parts of the hospital. In 1907, the Louisville Tuberculosis Association established Hazelwood Sanatorium for the treatment of white patients from any part of Kentucky, even before Waverly Hills Sanatorium opened, in 1910, for city and county residents. Four years later, in 1932, some say another nurse jumped to her death from the 5th floor patio near Room 502. It opened in 1910 as a two-story hospital to accommodate 40 to 50 tuberculosis patients. Kentucky. Located just outside of Elizabethtown, Kasey Cemetery is so haunted, its known as the Gates of Hell. You can imagine what follows. Haunted tours helped raise money for the restoration project, which will eventually include a bed-and-breakfast. resource site. Today, it stands today as a monument in the fight against the . I would like to live and watch over and take care of my poor Fatherless children. Individuals worried about their health as well as about their family responsibilities and livelihood. Its also believed that patients whose infection spread to the brain, rendering them insane, were sent to the 5th floor. We do not own all of the materials on this website/blog. In 1908, ground was broken on what would become known as Waverly Hills Sanatorium (no one is quite sure when or how the second e was dropped from Waverly). Was a May Day Attack by Pilgrims a Practice Run for a Massacre? for all the names listed and to be listed. This tunnel has likely seen more death than most modern hospitals. Estimates vary, and records have been destroyed, but there may have been as many as 64,000 deaths at Waverly Sanatorium. Unfortunately, the sanatorium's medical records (up to 1935) were destroyed during the Flood of 1937, and subsequent documentation was haphazardly discarded following the hospital's closing . For more haunted adventures, check out these haunted tunnels in Kentucky. Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky opened in 1910 to treat tuberculosis patients. Waverly Hills Sanatorium We now have a patient death index for patients that died at Waverly Hills starting in 1911. In 1926, the massive building seen today opened its doors to accommodate another 450 beds. The best hidden gems and little known destinations - straight to your inbox. Trellix. Waverly Hills Historical Society is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of Waverly Hills Sanatorium, the history of its past employees and patients, as well as the education of the public of the history of TB and the effect on the area. Visitation is only available during Historical Society events. For the past few years, this crumbling tunnel has been featured during the Halloween season. There are tales of an apparition seemingly draped in white, like a doctors coat. The following index contains recorded patient deaths at Waverly Hills between 1911-1960. (E to H) Patients of W.H.S. (The myth was further spread by Tina. (The myth was further spread by Tina Mattingly on an episode of. Many people claimed that the souls of the people who died in the hospital were still wandering in the corridors. Photographs, text, illustrations and all other media not authored by KHI belong to their respective authors/owners/copyright holders and are used here for educational purposes only under Title 17 U.S. Code 107. Last, a rich variety of records from the early and mid-twentieth centuryincluding pamphlets, photographs, letters, and architectural recordshelp document the history of Waverly Hills Sanatorium from the perspective of administrators and some of the employees and patients who lived there. All proceeds benefit the restoration project. Land was donated and $11 million was used to started construction on the new hospital in 1924. The Mattinglys have established the Waverly Hills Historical Society in an effort to raise funds to help restore the interior of the old sanatorium. In 2014, the most recent year for which the CDC reports a mortality figure, 493 people died of TB. It was not known at the time that Tuberculosis was an airborne disease. The second phase was to convert the old sanatorium into a chapel, theater, and agift shopat a cost of $8 million or more. This is an active project so check back often for updates. If a patient had any chance of surviving the disease, Waverly Hills was the place to come for treatment. In 1849, Ann Beatty wrote to her mother about her attacks of spitting bloodone of the most dreaded symptomsand expressed her fear of developing the disease: Pa says that if I am not very careful he thinks I will have consumption. The dead were left at the end of the tunnel. can not be used in any means without written persmission from the owner of the media. This site A dedicated staff worked with thousands of TB patients, often contracting the disease themselves. In 1961, the hospital finally closed its doors. Our objective is to provide a resource and a memorial for all the building and the people whose lives made an impact on Louisville's history. A city in and of itself, complete with its own zip code. That is, 63,000 people seeking treatment at the Waverly Hills hospital were left to die, they were forced to commit suicide or they lost their minds. The number of shrouded bodies being taken away from the building began to have a dramatic effect on the morale of the victims, which was hugely problematic since this was the cornerstone of treatment. this website are the property of their respective owners or Waverly Hills Memorial & Historical Research Groupand mentioned or used within The tubercle bacillus that causes tuberculosis was identified in an Egyptian mummy that dated back to 3000 BCE. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. All information contained in this website With the discovery of a new antibiotic, Streptomyc in 1943, there was finally a way to combat Tuberculosis . Waverly has been a tuberculosis hospital, mental hospital, and geriatric center, all of which had the dead transported via the death tunnel so as to not carry off the dead in front of the patients. The Waverly Hills Death Tunnel. What are the creepiest cemeteries in Kentucky? Neither story is documented, but neither is completely discounted. He hired a woman named Lizzie Lee Harris to teach at the school. Since then, it has become a popular destination for paranormal investigators. Tuberculosis became a major concern in Kentucky around the turn of the 20th century. A four-story stone and brick Tudor Gothic revival style building, once part of Waverly Hills Sanatorium, still stands in 2021 as a tourist site and as a testament to struggles with a deadly disease. To learn more about the Historical Society, see the Historical Society section under About. Other accounts tell of ghostly appearances by a little girl named Mary and a little boy named Bobby in other areas of the hospital.

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