2. Waverly Hills Sanatorium
• History
• Location
• Property Map
• Timeline
• Video
• Haunting’s
• Bibliography
Table of Contents
3. • 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 school house that
was located on Pages Lane. He hired a woman named Lizzie Lee
Harris to teach at the school. Her love for the tiny school in addition to
her fondness for Scott's "Waverley Novels", prompted her to name the
little school house, "Waverley School." Major Hays liked the name,
and chose to name his property "Waverley Hill." The Board of
Tuberculosis Hospital kept the name after purchasing the land and
opening the Sanatorium.
Architects: James J. Gaffney (1863–1946)
Dennix Xavier Murphy (1854–1933)
History
6. Originally, Waverly Hills Sanatorium was a two-story frame building, with
a hipped roof and half timbering. Construction on this building began in
1908, and opened for business on July 26, 1910. The building was
designed to safely accommodate 40-50 tuberculosis patients. At the time,
tuberculosis was a very serious disease. People who were afflicted with
tuberculosis were isolated from the general public and placed in an area
where they could rest, stay calm, and have plenty of fresh air.
Sanatoriums were built on high hills surrounded by peaceful woods to
create a serene atmosphere to help the patients recover.
Reason Waverly Hills was Constructed
7. • 1908: construction begins on the original Waverly Hills Sanatorium
• 7/26/1910: original Waverly Hills Sanatorium opens, reaches overflow
quickly, creating need for larger hospital
• 3/1924: new facilities begin construction
• 10/17/1926-1961: Waverly Hills in operation as a tuberculosis treatment
center
• 1961-1963: hospital is remodeled
• 1963-1980: in operation as Woodhaven Geriatrics Center
• 1980: Woodhaven is shut down because of reported and proven patient
abuse; hospital is permanently closed as a working facility
• 2001: current owners (the Mattinglys) purchase the property and begin
restorations
• Present: the site has been home to ghost hunts and still hosts historical
tours.
Timeline Of Waverly
8.
9. What made Waverly the premiere TB hospital in the country was it's highly
skilled staff of nurses and doctors. The best in the world were here to help
those afflicted with TB. They were a group of very dedicated people. They
had to stay on the premises because TB was such a contagious disease.
These people actually risked their lives in their efforts to save the lives of
tuberculosis patients.
A Look At Past Staff...
10. In addition to caring for the patients, the staff had to live on the grounds of Waverly
Hills. They were not allowed to return to the general public to reduce the risk of
spreading tuberculosis. TB was highly contagious and was an air-borne illness. The
nurses dormitory sat by itself at the far end of the property.
The photo above shows the Nurses building in the background. Primarily, you see the
windows and exterior of the Sanatorium cafeteria. But, if you look closely at the
background, you'll see a portion of the nurses building in the upper left hand corner of
the photo.
Staff Contd.
11. -Some urban legends claim that "100,000 deaths" occurred at the
Sanatorium.
-According to Assistant Medical Director Dr. J. Frank W. Stewart, the highest
number of deaths in a single year at Waverly Hills was 152. Stewart wrote
that the worst time for deaths was at the end of the Second World War when
troops were returning from overseas with very advanced tuberculosis cases.
-Some independent researchers suggest that since 162 people died at
Waverly Hills in 1945, the highest total number of deaths possible over 50
years was approximately 8,212.
Waverly Hills Patients
1926 - NEVER!
12. What is now called the “body chute” is actually a tunnel that leads from the hospital
to the railroad tracks at the bottom of the hill. Originally, this was built as nothing
more than an underground tunnel to ship coal and food/produce up the hill to the
hospital more efficiently. However, as the deaths continued to rise, the staff thought
of another use. One side of the tunnel is concrete steps, while the other side
consisted of a motorized rail and cable system. Eventually, this is where the bodies
of the dead would be placed on gurney tables and lowered to the bottom of the
tunnel where hearses would picked them up for funeral arrangements.
Death Tunnel
13. This tunnel was totally enclosed from the morgue wing of the
hospital insuring that the patients would not see how many bodies
were leaving the hospital to keep up their morale. Doctors
discovered early that mental health in patients is just as important
as physical health. This tunnel is approximately 500 feet long, and
has air vents every few feet to let in light and fresh air. It has been
said that the tunnel was large enough to hold all the patients and
staff as a bomb shelter during both World Wars if needed.
14. • Ghost researchers are always drawn to the fifth floor of the former hospital.
The fifth floor consisted of two nurses’ stations, a pantry, a linen room,
medicine room and two medium-sized rooms on both sides of the two
nurses’ stations. One of these, Room 502, is the subject of many rumors
and legends and just about every curiosity-seeker that had broken into
Waverly Hills over the years wanted to see it. This is where, according to
the stories, people have jumped to their deaths, have seen shapes moving
in the windows and have heard disembodied voices that order trespassers
to “get out”.
In 1932, another nurse who worked in Room 502
was said to have jumped from the roof patio and
plunged several stories to her death. No one
seems to know why she would have done this but
many have speculated that she may have actually
have been pushed over the edge. There are no
records to indicate this but rumors continue to
persist.
Haunting of Room 502
15. • During a less than five year period, members of the Louisville Ghost Hunters Society
experienced ghostly sounds, heard slamming doors, saw lights appear in the building
when there should have been none, had objects thrown at them, were struck by
unseen hands, saw apparitions in doorways and corridors and more
Hauntings
16. • One of the legends told of Waverly Hills involves a man in a white coat who has been seen
walking in the kitchen and the smell of cooking food that sometimes wafts through the
room. During their initial visit, they found the kitchen was a disaster, a ruin of broken
windows, fallen plaster, broken tables and chairs and puddles of water and debris that
resulted from a leaking roof. The cafeteria had not fared much better. It was also in ruins
and the team quickly retreated. Before they could do so though, several of them reported
the sounds of footsteps, a door swinging shut and the smell of fresh baked bread in the air.
A quick search revealed that no one else was in the building and there was certainly no one
cooking anything in the kitchen. They could come up with no logical explanation for what
had occurred.
The Man in The White Coat
17. • The Waverly Hills Sanitarium in Louisville Kentucky has it all--
cold spots, disembodied voices, and ghosts roaming the halls.
It sits on a great hill overlooking the city and seems like a
reigning fortress of gloom in its eerie, decaying state. The
atmosphere is further darkened by a chilling history of mass
death and of patient abuse during the years it was used as a
geriatric hospital.
18.
19. In 2001, Charlie and Tina Mattingly purchased the sanatorium where Charlie's dad
had worked as an orderly for about four years during the time it was the
tuberculosis hospital. They opened the building up to the public and conduct
historical tours, paranormal tours and even overnight stays. Waverly Hills
Sanatorium has since become one of the favored 'hot-spots' for paranormal
researchers from all over the United States and perhaps even further. There
must be good reason why this building has become so widely talked about in
the ghost hunting community!
Waverly Today
20. Just think about This
• Do you believe the lingering stories and
haunting’s of Waverly or do you think it’s
all a big joke and money scam……
• I guess you’ll never truly know till you go
there and find out…….
21. Bibliography
2001, this once regal, and the. "Waverly Hills Sanitarium." ZzzipNet News.
N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.zzzip.net/hpgh/waverly_hills_sanitarium.htm>.
"Energy Management PowerPoint Template | Free Powerpoint Templates."
2010+ Free Powerpoint Templates PPT and Free PowerPoint Backgrounds.
N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2012. <http://www.free-power-point-
templates.com/energy-management-powerpoint-template/>.
"Ghost Hunters Ohio Search Team ghosts investigations." Ghost Hunters Ohio
Search Team ghosts investigations. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov.
2012.http://www.ohioghosthunter.com
"Haunted Waverly Hill Tuberculosis Hospital, a ghostly account." Underworld
Tales Magazine...it may scare you to death.. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.underworldtales.com/waverly.htm>.
22. Bibliography Contd.
• "Hauntings at Wavery Hills | Suite101." Suite101. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov.
2012. <http://suite101.com/article/hauntings-at-wavery-hills-a25376>.
• "Historical Waverly Hills Gallery." Official Waverly Hills Sanatorium/
Woodhaven Geriatric Center Memorial & Historical Resource. N.p., n.d.
Web. 6 Nov. 2012. <http://whsmemorial.tripod.com/id40.html>.
• "Jamendo - Silence." Jamendo - The #1 platform for free music. Free music
downloads for private use - Royalty free music licenses for commercial
purposes. More than 55,000 albums by independent artists.. N.p., n.d. Web.
6 Nov. 2012. <http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/245/silence#>.
• " Preview the scarysoundsomelaughing Sound Effect." Royalty Free Music
from Partners In Rhyme. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/soundfx/scary_halloween_sounds/scarys
oundsomelaughing_wav.shtml>.
23. Bibliography Contd.
• "Rate My Ink - Tattoo Pictures & Designs." Rate My Ink - Tattoo Pictures &
Designs. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2012. <http://www.ratemyink.com>.
• "TheCabinet.com - The Horror Web Page." TheCabinet.com - The Horror
Web Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2012. <http://www.thecabinet.com>.
• " The History of the Waverly Hills Sanatorium | Shield Paranormal Society."
Shield Paranormal Society | Investigations and Interventions. N.p., n.d.
Web. 6 Nov. 2012. <http://shieldparanormal.com/the-history-of-the-waverly-
hills-sanatorium/>.
• "Waverly Hills Sanatorium." Angelfire: Welcome to Angelfire. N.p., n.d. Web.
6 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.angelfire.com/indie/mousie/sanatorium/waverlyhills.html>.
24. Bibliography Contd.
• "Waverly Hills Sanitorium." Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov.
2012.http://www.ghosthauntings.org/Waverly_Hills_Sanitorium.html
• ."Waverly Hills Sanitorium - Historical and Paranormal Site." Waverly Hills
Sanitorium - Historical and Paranormal Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2012.
<http://therealwaverlyhills.com/History/index.shtml>.
• ." WaverlyHills.net | waverly hills sanitorium | waverly hills ky | waverly hill |
ghost hunting | death tunnel | waverly house. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.waverlyhills.net/>.
• "waverly hills black and white Photo Gallery by Mark Ledford at pbase.com."
PBase.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.pbase.com/cowsgomoo/waverly_hills_black_and_white>.
25. THE END
Hope you enjoyed this presentation as
much as I enjoyed working on it!
