waverly hills sanatorium death records

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. an impact on Louisville's history. However, after massive protest from the surrounding area, the plan was dropped. In crowded cities in the 19th century, anywhere from 70 to 90% of the population may have been infected with the bacteria, which could lie dormant for any amount of time. The hospital, known as Waverly Hills, was opened in 1926 and was considered to be the most advanced tuberculosis hospital in the country. The Waverly Hills Death Tunnel. Contributed by Phil Tkacz, Shawn Logan, Jay Gravatte, & Hope Bryant | contact@kyhi.org. A young boy named Timmy or Tim has been seen rolling a blue rubber ball. They were buried by passing through the death tunnel. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. Some time before the property was purchased in 2001, a story circulated about a group of teenage boys who snuck into the sanatorium. 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! It has a somewhat mysterious and sinister past It has a somewhat mysterious and sinister past. Since then, it has become a popular destination for paranormal investigators. Built in 1910 to combat tuberculosis, the 180,000 sqft, deeply haunted Waverly Hills Sanatorium has seen thousands of deaths and many ghosts. At the same time they also reveal stark racial disparities in mortality rates and institutional treatment. 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. 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. Fewer than 5% of patients initially survived. There are said to be several ghosts still haunting the echoing halls. I am somewhat a cliche'. It was closed down and quarantined, then renovated. Today, it stands today as a monument in the fight against the dreaded disease. Tuberculosis, also known as consumption, or "the white plague" , had a. It was also a disease that could end in a painful death. mentioned or used within B.A.S.E.-Bay Area Supernatural Encounters 2009Follow us @ www.facebook.com/bayareaseor visit our webpage @ www.bayarease.comBack before the sanatorium was ev. 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. Copyright 2003, 2004 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 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. In turn, he renamed his property Waverley Hill. 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. Waverly Hills Memorial This list does not included patient data from the geriatric center after inpatient tuberculosis treatment had stopped. In 1926, the massive building seen today opened its doors to accommodate another 450 beds. When the plans fell through due to funding problems, Alberhasky, upset that the remaining building was protected by the Historical Register, tried to have the building condemned. Let's see what might have caused all these tragic deaths. will be confirmed information either by photograph, news article, and/ or historical archive of some kind. Trellix. 2023 Atlas Obscura. Waverly Hills Sanatorium We now have a patient death index for patients that died at Waverly Hills starting in 1911. 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. Was a May Day Attack by Pilgrims a Practice Run for a Massacre? Trellix. Sanatoriums were built on high hills surrounded by peaceful woods to create a serene atmosphere to help the patients recover. These records shed light on public services that often reached across lines of class and race. This list includes only patients that died at the hospital. During the World War, the U.S. found the tunnel to be safe in the case of an attack. Waverly Hills isnt the only haunted tunnel around. Land was donated and $11 million was used to started construction on the new hospital in 1924. Produced by Johns Hopkins University Press in collaboration with The Sheridan Libraries. There are currently 10 different medications available in the US to treat tuberculosis. Due to the rapid increase of Tuberculosis cases, the original hospital was soon to capacity. Treatment for tuberculosis, an infectious bacterial disease . What are the creepiest cemeteries in Kentucky? Powered by www.tripod.com & Waverly Hills Memorial Everyone at Waverly patients, nurses, doctors, and other employees had to say goodbye to everything they knew on the outside world. can not be used in any means without written persmission from the owner of the media. Official Waverly Hills Sanatorium/ Woodhaven Geriatric Center Memorial & Historical Resource. We do not have access to records of any patients from Waverly Hills and we cannot accommodate any requests at this time. 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. Originally a heating duct, this tunnel was also used by the staff to climb the hill in bad weather. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. A chute was built to aid in disposing dead bodies in such a way that the sick did not have to see them leaving. The statue would have been based on the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, only 20 feet taller. They focused less on the tunnel and more on a college kid storyline, highlighted with a little bit of history. The path towards the light connected to the main building via a railway system on the first floor of the original hospital. Plans to turn Waverly Hills Sanatorium into a hotel, restaurant, and convention center are moving forward after the Louisville Metro Council approved a zoning change request by the owner on Feb. 27. 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. The first phase of the development, coming in at a cost of $4 million, would have been a constructing the 150 foot tell statue, to be situated on the roof of the sanatorium. The structure served a lot of purposes throughout history, but the most significant one was when it was a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients from 1910 to 1961. In 1962 the hospital was purchased by the state and used as a nursing home. A private tour of the death tunnel is available by appointment. Essentially, once you went to Waverly Hills -- as a patient, a nurse, or a doctor -- you no longer got to be a part of the outside world. One report from a paranormal investigation group noted that six members saw what they claim looked like a young girls shadow that was completely opaque. Plans are underway for an on site memorial Since any existing schools were a good distance away, Hays decided to establish a sone room school house for his children to attendand hired Ms. Lizzie Lee Harris as the teacher. WoodHaven Medical was closed by the state in 1981. Official Waverly Hills Sanatorium/ Woodhaven Geriatric Center Memorial & Historical Resource, Dear Reader / Researcher, Welcome to the Official Waverly Hills/ Woodhaven memorial & historical Pour se dbarasser de votre ancien vhicule, voici la liste et les adresses du centres VHU agrs en rgion Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes. This list is organized by date of death and not by name. The first antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis was called streptomycin, and it was discovered by American biologists in 1943. The most common treatment at the time was sunlight, fresh air, and nutritious food. It wasnt until 1882 that Robert Koch published a paper identifying this bacillus for the first time. Patients in every condition were accepted including those in early stages to those in the final stages. (The myth was further spread by Tina Mattingly on an episode of. Before we go any further, its important to note that abandoned places can be extremely dangerous and many are off-limits to the public. Construction on the second hospital was underway in March 1924. This list includes only patients that died at the hospital. They screamed and banged on the door until two security guards came to their rescue -- and found that the door gave way easily for them. Forged from a partnership between a university press and a library, Project MUSE is a trusted part of the academic and scholarly community it serves. A new wing was built that year to accommodate those patients in advanced stages. . There are many reports of the infamous shadow people of Waverly Hills. Even with many new procedures available, it was impossible to save everyone. See. The warm, wet weather in Kentucky near the Ohio River was a breeding place for bacteria, and insects often helped to spread disease. If the bacteria did become an infection, there was an 80% chance of death at that time. The sanatorium was established in the early 20th century to help deal with an outbreak of the then-incurable disease tuberculosis. The tunnels main purpose was to protect the morale of other patients. Nothing that went down the death tunnel ever came back up. As the state of the patients worsened, people began to die in the facility on an almost-daily basis. For the past few years, this crumbling tunnel has been featured during the Halloween season. & Historical Research GroupAll files, pictures, video, E.V.P., articles, trademarks; etc. Spookiest Stories Ever: Four Seasons of Kentucky Ghosts, Tuberculosis (also known as TB, consumption, the White Death, or the White Plague) is a highly communicable bacterial infection contracted by breathing in air containing. Another of Todds plans was the refurbishing of the building into apartments, this also feel through due to lack of funding. More than half of those diagnosed with TB would die in three to five years. 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. Our objective is to provide a resource and a memorial for all the building and the people whose lives made The Board decided to keep the name Waverly, as it had a peaceful sound to it. With the discovery of a new antibiotic, Streptomyc in 1943, there was finally a way to combat Tuberculosis . A total of 63,000 people lost their lives up until 1961, the year when the hospital was closed. Consumption was the most common name for pulmonary tuberculosis, the form of the disease that affected the lungs and, per its name, seemed to consume the body as it progressed in stages over many years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waverly_Hills_Sanatorium, http://paranormal.about.com/od/hauntedplaces/ig/World-s-Most-Haunted-Place/Waverly-Hills-Sanatorium.htm, http://practicalwanderlust.com/2016/09/louisville-kentucky-a-locals-guide-to-visiting-fall.html. Key: will currently be the memorial for the tuberculosis & geriatric hospitals. There have been reported ghost sightings in Room 502 at the sanatorium, particularly the ghost of a nurse in uniform. 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 Child-Eating Bunyip Haunts Australias Wetlands. We wouldnt want you to end up in the hospital, or worse, jail. Welcome to the Official Waverly Hills/ Woodhaven memorial & historical resource site. Here are 9 things that make the death tunnel in Kentucky unique: The patients that passed on at Waverly were left at the end of the tunnel. ome improvement began to present itself in those who spent a restful retreat in the mountains. The Historical Society and the family that owns the property hold fundraising events throughout the year. The 1920 & 1930 census reports were all hand written. Good news: When you visit WHS, you can get in the death tunnel. There are two legends concerning the room: a nurse committed suicide by jumping out the window, and a nurse who hanged herself in room 502 because she was single and pregnant. img7.mynet.com They were buried by passing through the death tunnel. In an attempt to to contain the disease, a Board of Tuberculosis Hospital was established in 1906. BUT, according to Patti Starr in her book. The new Sanatarium was officially opened July 26, 1910. If you get lost the address to the Golf Course is 4301 East Pages Lane, Louisville, KY 40272. The best hidden gems and little known destinations - straight to your inbox. Kentuckys Home to the Largest and Most Haunted Victorian Neighborhood in America, The Haunted Spurlington Tunnel In Kentucky Has A Bone-Chilling History, One Of The Most Haunted Cemeteries In Kentucky Is Also The Most Beautiful, Driving Down This Haunted Kentucky Road Will Give You Nightmares, Spend A Night At This Haunted Sanatorium In Kentucky If You Dare, This Haunted Tunnel In Kentucky Is Not For The Faint Of Heart, 11 Staggering Photos Of An Abandoned Hospital Hiding In Kentucky, The Story Behind This Evil Place In Kentucky Will Make Your Blood Turn Cold. After Alberhaskys efforts failed, Waverly Hills was sold to Tina and Charlie Mattingly in 2001. It has been estimated that the death tunnel actually saw more dead people than most modern hospitals do in its first three years. A homeless man and his dog supposedly fell down the elevator shaft when the building was vacant, and some have seen the. & Historical Research GroupAll files, pictures, video, E.V.P., articles, trademarks; etc. During the Halloween season, Waverly Hills turns itself into a thrilling Haunted House. He hired a woman named Lizzie Lee Harris to teach at the school. Some have reported seeing shapes near the window in room 502 and even a voice saying, Get out.. It had its own post office, water treatment facility, grew its own fruits and vegetables, raised its own meat for slaughter, and maintained many of the other necessities of everyday life. 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. In 2001, Charles and Tina Mattingly bought the property. After the geriatric center closed down, various owners considered turning the building into a number of things, including a jail and. Louisville, KY, is home to the Waverly Hills Sanatorium, which many people believe is one of the most haunted places on Earth. Tuberculosis got its nicknames from the sickly pallor of the victims the disease claimed. However, many people owe their lives to the care they received at Waverly Hills. The Mattinglys have established the Waverly Hills Historical Society in an effort to raise funds to help restore the interior of the old sanatorium. can not be used in any means without written persmission from the owner of the media. 2025. Frank J. Stewart served as the assistant medical director and as a physician at the sanatorium up until the 1950s. It also had an ulterior and much less sinister purpose. It is part of the. What makes this tunnel in Kentucky stand out from the others? We do not have access to records of any patients from Waverly Hills and we cannot accommodate any requests at this time. I grew up running around barefoot on a farm in Kentucky. All information contained in this website Waverly Hills Sanatorium sits on land that was originally purchased by Major Thomas H. Hays in 1883. this website are the property of their respective owners or Waverly Hills Memorial & Historical Research Groupand Estimates vary, and records have been destroyed, but there may have been as many as 64,000 deaths at Waverly Sanatorium. Some have called this long concrete structure the Death Shute over the years. Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book. 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 . This list is organized by date of death and not by name. Kelli Patrick:Waverly Hills Sanatorium opened in around 1910 because of an outbreak of tuberculosis. The TV show Ghost Hunters did a program on Waverly Hills in March of 2006. Please click here to view the index. While no records exist to report an accurate death count that occurred within the building, it is . Alberhaskys intentions were to construct the worlds tallest statue ofJesuson the site, along with an arts and worship center. Over the next few decades, Waverly Hills would fall into more dark times. So while it's true that the most common treatments were exposure to sunlight, bed rest, healthy foods, and fresh air, the Waverly Hills Sanatorium Memorial records that several other methods were applied to patients, including surgical methods that were cutting edge for the time, but that might sound barbaric now. Even so, the CDC reported 9,557 cases in the United States in 2015. What makes this tunnel in Kentucky stand out from the others? Research notes for Supernatural Season 2 Episode 4. Ain (01) Allier (03) Ardche (07) Cantal (15) Drme (26) The Waverly Hills Sanatorium Body Chute in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the most haunted places in the United States. 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. 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. 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. KEY: S - Submitted NP - Newspaper Article KDR - Kentucky Death Records TB - Waverly Hills Sanatorium G - Woodhaven Geriatrics Center 20 - 1920 Census Report Hills Memorial Research Group. With a design from local renowned architect D. X. Murphy, the new building now had a capacity of 400 and opened on October 17, 1926. & W.G.C. Even with many new procedures available, it was impossible to save everyone. The empty building was purchased by a number of buyers in the following years, but nothing ever saw fruition. The massive, collegiate, gothic style Sanatorium that you see in the 1926 photo (above) remains standing on Waverly Hill, today. Some of the names were difficult if not impossible to read. They found themselves stuck in a room whose door would not open and shadowy figures appeared in the room. Very little of this part of Waverly has fallen down, and the structure itself is still safe. It opened as a 40 room hospital and they found that they needed to add on very quickly. No matter the good vibes the site espoused, it still ended up as place to scare people. & W.G.C. Even with the building of additional pavilions, space for patients was consistently at a minimal. If you want to visit, make your plans early! Waverly Hills Sanatorium sits on land that was originally purchased by Major Thomas H. Hays in 1883. shared photos and the stories of their family members who were patients and staff members of Waverly Hills. (Please get in the death tunnel.). The building is host to ghost hunters from all over the globe. The administrators began taking the bodies through the hidden tunnel to hide the morbid evidence from the other tenants, earning the tunnel the nickname the body chute. Luckily this misery came to an end in the 1940s when a tuberculosis drug was introduced that drastically lowered the need for such a large facility. The 400-bed hospital that opened in 1926 at Waverly Hills Sanatorium. But in 2001, Waverly Hills Sanatorium was purchased and since then, there have been many changes and improvements to the building and surrounding property. All proceeds benefit the restoration project. If the number is true, the cost would equate to roughly. Her love for the tiny school, in addition to her fondness for Scotts Waverley Novels, prompted her to name the little schoolhouse, 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. Tuberculosis and Waverly Hills Sanatorium in the Filsons Collections, The Filson Historical Society and Cincinnati Museum Center. 2023 Project MUSE. Ruins of a historic medical facility sits eerily by the water. Waverly Hills became known outside of the area when the TV series The Scariest Places on Earth profiled the institution in 2001. Today, it stands today as a monument in the fight against the . Vital Statistics Original Death Certificates Microfilm (1911-1964). Important note:If you would like to use any information on this website (including text, bios, photos andany other information) we encourage you to contact us. In 1926, they finished the building to what it is today. It was considered very state-of-the-art for its day. It's a place where the smell of death is hidden, and where the painful screams are still in the air. It was the leading cause of death during sanatorium's peak years of operation; however, it is impossible to say how many people died at Waverly Hills. The building was designed to accommodate 40-50 tuberculosis patients safely. This is an active project so check back often for updates. It was not known at the time that Tuberculosis was an airborne disease. An abandoned tuberculosis hospital moulders on into an uncertain future. A new sanatorium opened on October 17, 1926 that could accommodate 400-500 patients. Nestled in the Ohio Valley, Louisville doesnt get a proper amount of fresh air flow. Respect all signs posted and never trespass on private property. 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.

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