America's 'most haunted' hospital in Kentucky saw almost 8,000 deaths. 100 years later, visitors still leave toys on the third floor and fear the mystery of Room 502

Thousands of people once entered Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky, hoping to survive tuberculosis but many of them never returned home. Today, the former hospital is a hub for visitors from around the world, not for medical treatment but for its reputation as one of America's most haunted places. Behind its ghost stories is a history of patients who lost their lives to a disease that once had limited treatment options.

Why did thousands die at Waverly Hills?

The sanatorium's construction had started back in 1908 and it opened in 1910 to treat tuberculosis patients. The highly contagious disease was spreading rapidly at that time through Louisville.

The hospital was expanded in 1926 to accommodate more than 400 patients. According to the Louisville Courier Journal, an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 people died there during its years as a tuberculosis hospital.


One of its most notorious features of this hospital was an underground passage known as the 'body chute' or 'death tunnel'. Originally built to transport food and supplies, it was reportedly used to move dead bodies out of the building without alarming other patients.

Why do visitors leave toys for a child ghost?

Waverly Hills has five floors, each associated with different paranormal stories. On the third floor, visitors often leave small toys and rubber balls for a rumoured child spirit called 'Timmy'.

According to tour guide Nicole Blair, who spoke to WHAS11, the objects are left in the hope of connecting with the young spirit, believed to have been a child patient who never returned home.

Another unsettling location is operating room 402. Blair said visitors sometimes report chest pain, dizziness, nausea and difficulty breathing inside the room. She also recalled an incident when a heavy autoclave door reportedly slammed shut during a tour.

What is the mystery surrounding Room 502?

The building's most notorious location is Room 502, situated on the fifth floor between the adult and children's wards.

Local folklore links the room to a nurse who allegedly died by suicide after becoming pregnant outside marriage with a doctor. Another version of the story says that it was the doctor who was involved in her death.

Blair told WHAS11 that visitors have recorded electronic voice phenomena (EVPs), including phrases such as 'He hurt me' and 'My neck'.

From hospital to paranormal hotspot

Waverly Hills was closed as a tuberculosis sanatorium in 1961, and reopened as a nursing home the next year. It eventually closed in the early 1980s after reports of overcrowding and neglect.

Charlie and Tina Mattingly bought the property in 2001 and started restoration work. Today, historical and paranormal tours allow visitors to explore its past.