Haunted: The Waverly Hills Sanatorium

Every year, the tenth graders at Frank's high school take a field trip to the Waverly Hill Sanatorium. Ever since his older brother came back the year before, Frank's been anxiously awaiting his classes field trip to Waverley Hills. The teachers stress the educational value of the tour, how it's important to learn their local history, but all the students care about is that the hill is haunted. Frank is no exception. His older brother piled him and their younger sister with tales of long, spooky hallways, creaking doors, and teenagers jumping out from around the corners trying to scare each other. Frank's older brother insists he saw movement on the fifth floor, even though the guide said no one was up there. Their younger sister thinks there's no such thing as ghosts, but Frank can't wait to find out for himself. The bus arrives, and Frank and his classmates gather around the tour guide, who's giving them a safety briefing. Frank mostly tunes them out, opting and seats to stare up at the looming structure in front of him. He does catch one phrase, though, stay with the group They enter the first floor, and the guide begins telling the students about the purpose of the sanatorium. Again. Frank lets his attention wander, his eyes roaming over the graffiti on the white plaster and the rusty exposed pipes creeping up on the walls along the ceiling. A sudden gust of cold wind pulls Frank's attention to an open window. He expects to see some kind of apparition darting between the shadows and the corridor. Instead, he sees something even stranger, a steady snowfall. It's rearly October, too early for snow. Frank dashes to the window and leans out. The hill outside is covered in snow. Snow that wasn't there mere seconds ago. Shouldn't be possible, but the hare is standing up on Frank's bare arms. Say otherwise. He holds out a hand and feels those impossible snowflakes landing on his palm. The sudden weather change isn't the only strange sight. Outside the sanatorium, rows of beds are lined up on the snow covered grass. Frank can see people lying in the beds, snowflakes dusting their hair and blankets. Someone dressed in a nurse's outfit walks down the row with the clipboard. Frank watches as one of the bedridden people grabs a nurse's sleeve. He's too far away to hear what it said, but the nurse shakes her head and keeps walking. The other person pulls a blanket further up, uncovering their socked feet in the process. Suddenly, Frank realizes how quiet it is. He hadn't been listening to the tour guide, but their voice had at least been background noise. But now the corridor is silent. He whirls around to find that the tour group had disappeared. Now the shock and wonder give way to fear. Frank runs down the corridor, calling to his friends, classmates, teacher, anyone. He reaches the staircase and takes it, too at a time to the next floor. He covers the whole floor and finds no one. To the third floor, he goes. He mentally replays a tour guide's warning to stay with the group. He wasn't distracted for that long though the current have gone far. He starts his trek on the third floor, listening for any signs of life. That sign eventually comes in the form of soft weeping. Frank stops and follows a sound. He opens a door and finds himself in a solarium with a row of empty beds except for the one closest to him. In it sits a little girl. Frank's first thought is that she looks like his little sister. At the sound of the door opening, a little girl looks up and meets Frank's eyes. He asks her what's wrong. Instead of answering, she cries, I want to go home and lifts her arm in his direction. Frank recognizes a gesture as a plea for comfort, so he approaches a little girl. He sits on the edge of the bed and opens his arms to hug her. Then someone is calling Frank's name. He blinks and sees his teacher waving at him to get his attention as the rest of the group walks on ahead. He's back on the first floor and the temperature has risen about thirty degrees. He mumbles a sorry and jogs to catch up with a group, taking a few glances out the windows he passes, just to confirm that there is no snow on the ground outside. When he reaches his classmates, and the tour guide starts talking again. Frank tries to pay attention, but his mind inevitably wanders to the snow, the people, presumably Patience, lying in beds outside, and the little girl on the third floor. He's not sure what exactly happened, but what he does know is his Waverley Hill Sanatorium story will definitely top his older brothers. Waverley Hills has long since outlived its purpose as a tuberculosis hospital. Today, the sanatorium, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, hosts visitors who come to learn about the facility's history and for the opportunity to experience first hand why it's such a hotbed for the paranormal. My name is Edwin, and here is a dark memory. The history of Waverley Hill Sanatorium begins in eighteen eighty three, when Major Thomas Hayes purchased a farm land on which the sanatorium would one day be built. A hospital was not what Hayes had in mind for the property. I mean he bought the land to raise his family on it. Because the nearest school building was four miles from the farm, Hayes obtained permission from a neighbor who owned a one room building, to transform it into a schoolhouse. She left the school's name to the discretion of the teacher. He hired, Lizzie Lee Harris, and she chose Waverley School as an homage to a book series she loved. Hayes liked Harris's suggestions so much that he named the farm Waverley Hills. The local government bought his property in nineteen oh eight, though the name Waverley Hills carried over when two years later the Waverley Hill Sanatorium opened. The original sanatorium was only two stories and could house forty to fifty patients. The second sanatorium, which opened in October of nineteen twenty six, is the five story building that stands today. The facility had expanded tenfold to accommodate the growing threat of tuberculosis. But just to give you some background on it, Tuberculosis is an airborne bacterial illness. It usually attacks the lungs, but it can attack other organs too, and there are two types of it, latent and active. If somebody has the latent form, they won't show symptoms and they won't be contagious. The active form can manifest within weeks, or it can take years. Today, the disease is treated with antibiotics, but before those were developed, fresh air, a balanced diet, and rest were the most common remedies. Kentucky had the highest death rate for tuberculosis in the US at the beginning of the twentieth century. Waverley Hills and subsequent sanatoriums were the city of Louisville's responses to the deadly and contagious disease. The facility was more residential community than hospital. The whole Waverley Hills property was big enough for its own zip code, complete with the post office, livestock, gardens, everything necessary for a self sufficient community. But of course, there was a dark side to the seemingly idyllic bubble. Tuberculosis patients were sent to Waverley Hills to isolate them from the rest of Louisville. The residents weren't allowed to leave until they were cured or dead. But they weren't the only residents confined to the sanatorium. Doctors, nurses, and all other staff were required to move on site and stay there. Since tuberculosis was so contagious, there are undeniable parallels to staying at quote the Hill, which is the sanatorium's nickname and being in jail. Except in a jail, the guards get to go home eachday. A history of unethical treatments further Sully is the pleasant Facade of Waverley Hills. Because fresh air was popularly prescribed, patients were placed outside even in the middle of winter, and that was the least extreme treatment. Some patients' slungs were exposed to ultraviolet light try to kill the bacteria associated with tuberculosis infection. To get patient's lungs to expand further, balloons were surgically implanted, or muscles or ribs were removed. It was common for patients to not survive these procedures. The patients who never made it off the hill alive were funneled through the aptly named body chute, which started at the top of the hill and stretched all the weight to the bottom, where corpses would be shuttled away. The body chute was used to shield the still living patients from the discouraging death tool. About six thousand total people died at Waverley Hills. Gradually, the tuberculosis epidemic calmed down with the invention of a vaccine and antibiotics. By nineteen sixty one, Waverley Hills was no longer needed, so the sanatorium was shut down. The facility was renovated, and in nineteen sixty two it reopened as would Hay Geriatric Center. Wood Haven's history is much shorter than the sanatoriums. In nineteen eighty, wood Haven came under investigation following allegations of maltreatment. Sharon Ware, director of Licensure and Regulation for nursing homes in Kentucky, headed the investigation, which began in August of that year. Two major reports came out in the investigation, one from October sixteenth, then another from November fifth and sixth. The October report cited evidence of dangerously underweight patients less than one hundred pounds in some cases, and several patients exhibiting severe thirst and other signs of malnourishment. When they were confronted with these findings, the medical director and a wood Haven administrator blamed the patients, saying that some refused to eat or had illnesses that led to weight loss. They flat out denied that the patients were severely dehydrated. Additionally, numerous patients complained of bed sores, which official documentation declared had been treated when that was obviously not the case. The November investigation yielded equally distressing results. The patients had poor hygiene, including dirty hair, skin, and nails. Medicine dusages were incorrectly documented. Roaches were found throughout the facility, especially in the bathrooms. Employees were notably slow to respond to patients who called them, which the center explained with the excuse that the aids acted more slowly than usual when they knew it was a drill. In light of concerns from the October report, twenty six state awards at Woodhaven were transferred, leaving one hundred and fifty still there with their futures undecided, and the event at the center was shut down. Woodhaven employees protested the investigation. They claimed that it was unwarranted that Sharon Ware was to irrelevant pressures of an investigation into the nursing home industry. They argue that wood Haven took in mentally ill patients who wouldn't be welcome in other facilities, but their efforts failed and wood Haven agreed to close their doors that coming January. The investigation led to bad publicity and subsequently lower admission rates, which meant less grants at both the federal and state level, and that led to even worse quality of care. When wood Haven finally shut its doors, the facility fell into two decades of disrepair. Its rundown appearance earned the property a reputation of being haunted. In nineteen ninety six, a man named Robert Alberhaski bought the facility and its surrounding property with the intention of building the world's tallest statue of Jesus, modeled after the one in Real Degenio, and it would be built on the sanatorium roof. As for the sanatorium itself, his plan was to convert it into a space of worship. That ended up being too expensive and the project fell through. He sold the property to Charlie and Tina Maddingly in two thousand and one. Charlie started the Waverley Hills Historical Society, a nonprofit, volunteer based organization whose mission is to maintain the property and to educate the public on tuberculosis. In twenty seventeen, the Historical Society signed a ninety nine year lease with the owners to take over the management and upkeep of the property. This was after the IRIS opened up an investigation into Charlie. The Historical Society's dream for Waverley Hills is to reimagine the self contained community that it was in its heyday, minus the prison like qualities. The Waverley Hills Historical Society is well aware of the Sanatorium's reputation. In fact, they lean into it, offering several guided tours. Along with the standard historical tour, they have a guided paranormal tour. They also host two semi guided paranormal investigations, a six hour one for up to sixty novices and an eight hour one for more experienced investigators. The eight hour tours are private and cat at ten people. Every weekend in October there are special Haunted House tours, and in early November is Horror Palooza weekend, during which Waverley Hills will host horror movie actors and spiritual experts. Proceeds for both of those events support the Historical Society. The message on the Waverley Hills Historical Society web page recognizes the spirits that are said to haunt the sanatorium. Waverley Hills has a vast collection of ghost stories that have accumulated over the years. There is the Little Girl in a solarium on the third floor, the little boy with the leather ball, a hearse carrying coffins behind the building, and a woman with bloody wrists crying for help. Strange noises like slamming doors and footsteps can be heard in the sanatorium's halls. The send of food being cooked is said to emanate from the abandoned kitchen, and a man in a white coat can be seen entering that room. The legend of Room five to two is one of the most infamous stories about Waverley Hills. One of the only two patient rooms on the fifth floor, Room five O two has been rumored to be the site of multiple suicides. A twenty nine year old pregnant nurse who worked at the sanatorium in nineteen twenty eight hung herself. Another nurse jommed out of the room's window. Though her death is officially a suicide, some believe that she was actually pushed. People report seeing silhouettes in the windows and hearing disembodied voices coming from inside that room. The sanatorium has been featured on paranormal reality shows and documentaries, inspired fictional works, and has been a filming location for horror movies. The TV show ghost Hunters has featured Waverley Hills on four episodes and a Halloween special. While investigating the sanatorium, the ghost Hunter's team experience a myriad of hauntings. They recorded EVPs, which are electronic voice phenomenon of growling in the nurse's ward and moaning from inside the body shoot. One of the investigators felt something grab their leg, while another felt something touch their back. After communicating with the spirit on the fifth floor, thermal images show disembodied legs walking across the floor. Multiple shadow figures were seen, including one known as the Creeper. It is seen crouching in corners. The creeper will strangen and scale the walls and ceilings if approached. Years later, on a visit home for the holidays, Frank returns to Waverley Hills. Since he was last there, more buildings have been added, including a tour center and a museum. There's also a park where Frank's parents tell him they walk their dog on the weekend. The sanatorium hasn't changed much, though he feels an incredible sense of deja vous walking through the halls a few paces behind his tour group. He remembers that day vividly as they walk past the window where Frank first notice the impossible snow. He feels the hairs on his arm stand up at the mere memory. This time, however, nothing happens. He stays with the group and listens as a tour guide gives their spiel on the sanitorium on the third floor, Frank spies a solarium where he saw the little girl crying. The door is open, so he peers inside. That same little girl is sitting on the bed, but this time her eyes are dry. She stares out the window, hugging a stuffed rabbit, as if she could sense Frank's presence. She looks over at him and smiles. Frank smiles back, then rejoins the group, content to leave Waverley Hill's ghosts to themselves. This episode of A Dark Memory was researched and written by Tess Redman and produced by me Edwin Kbaruges. If you have an idea for a topic for the show, visit our website dark Memory dot com or send me an email. I'll leave it in the description of this episode. If you want to listen to topics like these, but in a more social setting, you can join me on my other podcast called Scary Mystery Surprise. In it, myself and my co host Michelle go over things that we find around the internet and creeped us out. So you can find it by going to Scary Mystery Surprise dot com or by searching for the title here on your podcast app. Thank you very much for listening, See yas soon.