Waverly Hills Santatorium

Just East of the Ohio River in Louisville Kentucky is the Waverly Hills Sanatorium. It was home to hundreds of tuberculosis patients in the 1900’s. The “white plaque” epidemic took as many as 100 million lives in the United States around this time. The disease was so contagious that people were sent to ‘sanatoriums’ for treatment, and in most cases, to live out the rest of their lives. Waverly Hills began with approximately sixty patients and grew to house hundreds with estimates of over 8,000 people dying there. The focus of the hospital was to treat patients with lots of fresh air, nutritious food, and reassure them that a full recovery was possible. Some patients participated in experimental (and unsuccessful) surgeries that caused horrible pain and scarring. When death rates at Waverly reached an all-time high, they built a 500ft underground tunnel where they could ‘chute’ the bodies down to meet a hearse that would drive out a back entrance. This was an attempt to keep morale up so that patients did not see hearses going in and out. With the drug streptomycin introduced in 1943, tuberculosis could be treated and the need for sanatoriums around the country was no longer necessary. Waverly Hills closed in 1961. Today Waverly Hills is visited by people all over the world for its supposed paranormal activity.

1931 Waverly Hills Ad

Waverly Hills Website