Waverly Hills Sanatorium
Waverly Hills Sanatorium is one of those stories you think just can not be true, it feels like it has been dreamt up by some big shot horror movie director or its a new haunted house attraction at a theme park… But Waverly Hills is a real place, the stories are real and this is certainly not a place you want to take the kids.
Waverly Hills Sanatorium like any other haunted hospital has a gruesome past and lots of horrifying stories. Waverly Hills is situated in south western Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky, it opened in 1910. The hospital was opened due to the outbreak of Tuberculosis in Jefferson County the hospital was just a small two story wooden building just enough to treat 50 patients. With increasing repairs needing to be done to the wooden buildings its was decided that a more durable and permanent building should be built. The new building was opened in March 1924.
The Haunting
The haunting of Waverly Hills Sanatorium are well known to the locals and the paranormal investigators that have visited the hospital but I will share with you some of the most horrific and terrifying stories to come out of the wards of Waverly Hills.
Room 502
The most known story about Waverly Hills is that of Room 502. A nurse, Mary Hillenburg, was found hanged in the door way of Room 502 in the year 1928, it is thought it was suicide as she had recently discovered she was pregnant out with wedlock. There is a story that Mary Hillenburg was impregnated by a doctor of Waverly Hills who was actually married. He tried an abortion which killed Mary Hillenburg in the process and to cover his back he made it look like a suicide.
Another nurse later took her own life in 1932 by throwing her self out of the window of the room that she worked in, Room 502. There are no reports of why she would have committed suicide but there was a rumour that someone did in fact push her. There are also reports that people have seen shadows move across the floor and walls in Room 502, so was this nurse pushed to her death by a ghostly spirit?…
Body Chute
The Body Chute was a tunnel which lead from the back of Waverly Hills to the train tracks at the bottom of the hill. This tunnel was built for supplies and deliveries and ease of access, but when the outbreak of Tuberculosis hit the tunnel was used to transport the dead bodies out of the hospital by a motorised trolley. This was used as the patients that were being treated would originally see all the bodies of the dead patients leave the hospital by the front, which depressed the patients and in turn would kill them.
The Tunnel now is said to be haunted by the spirits which travelled the length of that tunnel. Voices and unidentified noises have been heard in the tunnel, while cold shivers have been felt by paranormal investigators.
So as you can see Waverly Hills is not for the light hearted of us, but this is surely one of the most haunted places in America, especially when you take in to account the rumored number of deaths, 63,000.
As commentators have pointed out that the Waverly Hills Sanatorium is the base for the movie Death Tunnel I have inserted an Amazon image link below for your convince, along with Spooked The Ghosts Of Waverly Hills Sanatorium, based on the same place.
Guys ive heard alor about this place but waht is room 502 whats the storys behind it whats been going on it whats so scary about the room
I have been inside Waverly numerous times. I live about 15 minutes from this facility. It is amazing. All stories told are def. true about Waverly Hills.
@ Ollie. If you had read the part about Room 502, you’d know the story behind it. Room 502 was the room where a nurse was found hanged in the door way after finding out she was pregnant with a doctor’s baby, and the doctor was a married man. He tried to perform an abortion which is the true source of her death, but hung her in the door way of room 502 to play it as a suicide. Four years after this nurses death, another nurse working the room committed suicide by jumping out the window, but rumors have been spread that she was pushed to her death.
omg they have a hauted atraction every yea last year i saw many ghost and lights tht wearnt regularr n then wen i made it too the door i freaked out blcked out and i ran away but this year im goin in and im so scared but hey my boyfriends taking me but yes waverly hills is nothing like the stoiries n person its extremely scaryy and very sad and heavyy but im terrified
Ollie…you ask what is room 502. All you need to do is scroll up and reread the info!
Im immediately reminded of the film “Return to the House on Haunted Hill”. It’s also about a haunted sanitarium. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the events at Waverly Hills was the inspiration for the film.
I think it’s really sad that all those people and children died. It honestly breaks my heart. What I truly want to know more about is why in the hell would the doctor hang Mary in the door way??? Why sleep with her and not know of what was going to happen? Poor Mary jeez I feel so horrible. She didn’t deserve that!
The movie Death Tunnel is supposed to be based on Waverly. A scary movie – check it out. That’s what made me interested in first place.
I would love to go to Waverly Hills. I think the stories are awesome and I would like to know what pushed that nurse out of the window in the room of 502 and why!
There is also a movie called Death Tunnel that’s not very known of but it’s pretty scary and is based on this building. I recommend it for a few scares.
Thanks keno williams, mandi and all others who posted insightful comments. I have inserted some movie links. Thanks a lot!
I thought the women who was preagnent gave herself an abortion then jumped off the roof??
THe nurse hung herself in room 502, im not sure where the claims of her jumping off the roof came from. Ive been to Waverly twice and it is quite an impressive sight, when you first see it you think “wow, thats huge” then you realize you’re looking at the width, when you get around to the length of the building its more like “holy sh*t….” haha. Ive been in 502, its not really a “room” as in like a room where patients were housed, its more just an open area on the top floor. Waverly is definatly impressive and id recommend it to anyone, just if you go on Halloween get ready for a 3 hour line! haha. The 2nd and 3rd floors are extremely active too and are my personal favorites
Oh Wavely is haunted! my son and I just went to the haunted house and a mini tour of the building and I don’t believe in ghost but something black was crawling on the floor and rubbed against my leg, really has me thinking that it’s really haunted now, we also saw lots of black shadows moving….scary place!!!!
A friend and I took the Waverly tour last fall.We both are very used to experiencing unusual happenings.I practice an Earth based religion.I must inform anyone who believes the hype,that Waverly has a sad past but is not haunted.The tours are paying for the restoration and thats good.It’s all a hoax,but great fun.
I have been to Waverly twice. Once in the dark,once in daylight. I have encountered spirits most of my life. They come to me.I don’t usually look for them. Waverly hills is the only place that really freaked me out. I am sixty years old. I’m not some impressionable kid. In total darkness, standing at the end of a hallway on the third floor all alone. I had a very strange experience. Too many souls coming at me all at once! I FREAKED! Felt like a total fool, as I set off an alarm trying to get the heck out of there! I also encountered a little girl about eight years old, I believe her name was Sarah, but everyone called her “Angel”. I also have a picture of an apparition of what looks to be a nurse on the roof. Is Waverly hills haunted? YES VERY!
So about the Abortion of the nurse in room 502 didn’t the baby she had fall out dead?And if so why does it just roam around the sanatorium but the thing that freaks me out is that he just walks around walking up and down the walls and I heard of this sanatorium from an ghost adventures episode I also heard of the dopolganger or how ever you spell it that a man was at the 5th or 4th floor and the group of people that was with him said that he was with them at the 3rd floor when he was actually in the 5th floor and they said that he came in the room they were in and he walked towards them and he moved his head like he was mentally ill and just walked back away
my grand mother was born in Louisville, KY in 1922 and contracted TB early on and was admitted to Waverly Hills. She has passed now but lived luckily for several decades. She told me lots of stories about what she faintly remembers about Waverly and the chute being used to move the deceased matches exactly. I wont go there.
room 502 is an old bathroom i use to live at Waverly and do security for the owners and yes the place is very haunted.