Construction of what now stands as Waverly Hills Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky began March of 1924. At the time, this was considered to be one of the most modern tuberculosis facilities in existence. In October of 1926 the sanatorium opened for patients featuring four stories of patient rooms, a cafeteria and kitchen, an operating room, and plenty of solarium porch space on each floor for the patients. On the fifth floor was the heliotherapy department where those suffering from tuberculosis of the bone would be treated with sunlight. There was also a roof top swing set for the children, a nurse’s station, a kitchenette, and access to the elevator maintenance in what is now known as the “bell tower.”

By the mid 1950s tuberculosis had been virtually wiped out from the Louisville area, and in 1961 Waverly Hills Sanatorium closed its doors as a tuberculosis hospital.

The hauntings commence

There are rumors that satanic rituals took place within Waverly’s walls, of a little girl moving about the third floor solarium playing hide and seek with trespassers, of a little boy named “Bobby” playing with his leather ball, of rooms lighting up when the building was without power, of doors slamming, disembodied voices, a hearse driving up and dropping off coffins, and an old woman running from the front door with her wrists bleeding. Supposedly she screams: “Help me. Somebody save me!”

Main Entrance

Here the ghost of an old woman has often been seen. Sometimes she runs out the front door. Her hands and legs are in chains and spectral blood drips from her wrists and ankles. She cries for help before she dissipates into thin air.

The Third Floor

Many have seen a little girl on the third floor who is known as “Mary.” Some say that she plays with a ball. Others have only heard the ball bouncing on the floor or down the stairs. This ball bouncing has also been attributed to a little boy, but the little girl seems the spookiest. One witness said that he encountered a little girl who “wasn’t normal.” She kept saying that she has no eyes. He was so terrified that he refused to enter the building again. Some have seen the child peering out the third floor windows.

Room 502

The Nurse’s Station is, perhaps, the most notorious and frightening room of all. Supposedly people have jumped to their deaths from this room. Others have seen spectral images floating in the windows and heard disembodied voices say: “Get out!”

The story goes that in 1928, the head nurse was found dead in the room. She had hanged herself from the light fixture. No one knows why the 29-year-old woman would take her own life, but it’s believed that she was unmarried and pregnant. It is unknown how long her body hung before she was finally discovered. The county coroner’s office attributed her death to suicide.

In 1932, another nurse who worked in room 502 supposedly committed suicide when she jumped from the balcony of the roof. No one knows why.

In addition to hearing voices on this floor, witnesses have seen the full body apparition of a female nurse in white and have reported that room 502 gives them an “unsettling” feeling of great despair.

Roof

Some have heard children chanting verses on the roof such as, “Ring around the Rosy.”

But why would the spirits of children occupy the roof? When the hospital was a tuberculosis facility, children were taken to the rooftop for heliotherapy, a treatment of exposure to the supposed healing rays of the sun.

Cafeteria and Kitchen

A spectral man in a white coat and pants supposedly roams this area. No one knows who he is but some think he’s an old employee of Waverly who contracted tuberculosis and died. The smell of food often wafts from the kitchen though no meals have been served since 1982 when the mental hospital was closed.

Fourth Floor

Some regard the fourth floor as the most scary and “active” area of the hospital. There have been many reports of ghostly shadow-like people treading the halls. In addition, doors frequently slam for no apparent reason on this floor.

THE BODY CHUTE

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.
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