Haunted History Of Waverly Hills Sanatorium

Friday, we took you to America's most haunted neighborhood and old Louisville, a neighborhood just south of downtown Louisville.

Not far from there is another Louisville haunt.

The Waverly Hills Sanatorium attracts visitors and ghost hunters from all over the world.

Our Kelsey Starks explores the history and legends that remain in the former hospital.

About 13 miles from old Louisville High atop a hill in southwest Jefferson County since the historic Waverly Hills Sanatorium.

Part of Waverly is history is that it is haunted.

And that's not just the history, it's the present.

I'm sure it'll be the future.

I've seen and heard and felt a lot of things in this building.

Its past tells the story of the tuberculosis pandemic raging in the early 1900s.

It opened in 1926 as a hospital to house and quarantine patients, as well as the doctors and nurses who worked there.

It's a 187,000 square foot building.

It's probably, you know, you've got over 500 rooms in it.

The first floor was like the morgue and the offices administration.

And then, you know, second, third, fourth floors were for patients and fifth floor had a like a ward on each side.

It was totally self-contained.

They raised their own crops.

They had their own livestock.

They had their own postal code.

It was called Waverly Hills, Kentucky.

After tuberculosis treatments advanced in the 1960s, the facility closed and reopened as a nursing home until 1981.

After 20 years vacant, the current owners bought it and brought it back to life as a national historic location.

But they say they can't escape the property's paranormal past.

It will change subject anywhere you go.

You know you're talking about ghosts, so you're nuts.

There's no such thing as ghosts.

And then you have something happen up here, and then you start to feel a little bit different and, like, maybe there is.

I do believe that there are still some spirits here.

I've seen them.

I've heard them.

And they have.

They will touch you to.

The ghost stories here.

Go back decades and have been featured on shows like Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, and more telling stories like Maintenance Man Ralph, whose keys can still be heard up and down the hallways, or the nurse who hung herself in room 502.

Now, supposedly the most haunted room in the hospital.

And, of course, mysterious things happening inside the death chute where dead bodies used to be transported down to the morgue.

It can happen anywhere near the hot spot.

For me, it's the electroshock therapy room.

We had a light bulb When?

The old time light bulbs.

You know, the clear ones that was just hanging from the ceiling.

But at that time, there was no electricity up here at all.

And while we were in there working, that bulb started to glow a little bit.

I had two guys with me, you know, helping shovel in.

A lot of the ceiling fell down and we were shoveling that all out.

And they got all spoke to the shovels and ran out of the building.

While Curiosity keeps the lights on.

Those paranormal tours and annual haunted houses help pay the bills for the Mattingly's.

Their focus remains in renovating and restoring the property.

And one day, they hope to turn it into a hotel.

Would you spend the night?

Well, the short answer to that is no.

Thank you, Kelsey.

Waverly Hills closed earlier this year due to a lawsuit between the owners and the Waverly Historical Society.

That lawsuit has since been settled, and Waverly remains open for tours and an annual haunted house.

You can see the full interview, which is great with Louisville's favorite ghost storyteller by watching the episode of Inside Louisville Online on Demand at Katie Dot o RG.