Where is Waverly Hills Sanatorium located?

Deemed as one of the most haunted sanatoriums in the country, Waverly Hills Sanatorium is notorious for paranormal activity. On July 26, 1910, the sanatorium opened as a haven and holding ground for patients with tuberculosis (it became a widespread disease in the United States in the early 20th century). During patients stay, they were subjected to experimental and brutal procedures, such as filling surgically implanted balloons with air to expand the patient’s lungs. To keep deaths hidden from other patients the deceased were transported through a tunnel known as the “body chute.” This tunnel was used a rail car system and was originally used to transport supplies to the building. However, as the death toll rose, the tunnel became a secret way to move the dead from the sanatorium to the bottom of the hill. The approximate number of deceased patients is unknown, the number ranges from a couple hundred to 63,000.

Many people who have visited Waverly Hills have reported paranormal experience. Legends tell of ghosts haunting the building, like the pleading woman with bleeding wrists and a little boy playing with a ball. People have also spoken of “slamming doors, lights in the windows as if power was still running through the building, strange sounds and eerie footsteps in empty rooms,” and even the scent of fresh baked bread wafting from the kitchen.

Though the sanatorium was closed by the state in 1980, it was bought in 2001 and is now open for tours and ghost hunts.