night at Waverly Hills

[Millhouse]

Just over 3 weeks ago, I did my first overnight paranormal investigation ever and it was at the old abandoned Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, KY. It was fully built in 1926 for the sole purpose of treating tuberculosis patients. The bat wing design was done on purpose for better air-flow. It shut down in 1962 when tb was cured, but re-opened a couple years later known as Woodhaven Geriatric Center which lasted until 1982 before being shutdown by the state due to poor care of patients (lack of funding for them and many others like them). Those would be considered the darker years of the building, but when it was Waverly it regarded as first class in the country. Patients were treated very well, as the body chute was built to hide the numerous bodies leaving the building so the staff and patients wouldn't see. But in the end it was the last place for many people including countless little ones. And even though it was first class, many patients never saw their loved ones again once they entered, and many didn't die a peaceful death though the staff on hand did the best they could.

The small group I was with had the place to ourselves from 8 to 4am as we had free reign of the entire building by ourselves. There was only one way in, and one way out which was through an underground tunnel from their main office/store etc. There are no lights in the building except for a small handful of exit lights for the middle main stairs, so it was exactly as it is seen on t.v. when groups go in there.  

Before I go on, I should note that I am a believer of that there is something out there that we just cant scientifically prove yet when it comes to ghosts & spirits.  But I am very skeptical of people when it comes to the paranormal. Just too many fakes and fakers out there. And though I do believe of something out there, I ask is it more supernatural or more science, or a bit of both? If it is a lingering undiscovered energy of past living organic bodies similar to a record player (ghost), then that to me would seem more science or at least something an atheist could nod their head at. If it is more of  supernatural energy that can "communicate" or have an intelligence about it (spirits/''demons''/etc), then that is when it gets real interesting when it comes to thinking of the afterlife.  Now onto Waverly.

The place was freaking huge. There were four main floors with the fifth being a small nurses station on the top middle. A wing juts off one end which was where we had to walk through to get to main building, and was big in its own right (cafeteria, kitchen, entertainment room, etc). I geared up with a sweet high beam small flashlight and a backup pocket flashlight. Extra batteries for them too. My camera which is a Nikon Coolpix model ($300-400) was a bit hefty to carry as it was about 75 degrees and 100% humidity that night, but paid off in the end. And I also bought a decent voice recorder Olympus brand for possible evps (electronic voice phenomena).

We started off as a big group on the initial tour, but broke up and I didnt see some of again for a few hours, to put it in perspective how big the place is. I wont go much into detail here but we explored rooms like the morgue, electroshock therapy, laboratory, operating room, chapel, and the roof/5th floor which is the highest point in all of Louisville. We also went down into the body chute which I wouldn't advise for claustrophobics.

After the first couple of hours I wandered off on my own for about an hour and a half. I went from the roof, and snaked my way down to the 2nd floor walking through the halls each floor. I took my time, walking slowly and stopping here and there. I ended my solo run in the body chute for a few minutes, then headed back to homebase where I met up with others. After that we paired up and I did it all over again basically. At the end of the night I spent a half hour alone in the chapel room on the 2nd floor. I sat in the chair in there and just laid my head back against the wall listening to Waverly. I got up, said a respectful goodbye to the place and that was my night.

Now comes the questions that have to be asked. Is Waverly Hills haunted? Did I have an experience(s)? Are there debunkable explanations for past claims there by numerous people over the years? My answers to those three questions are yes, nothing major but yes, and yes for some things like shadows.

I didnt have any major experience. I didnt see an apparition(s) with my eyes or hear something talking to me. I didnt see anything move like a toy ball or a door. But I did get numerous cold chills at times. Heard footsteps but I told myself it was an echo (which it wasnt). Had a really sharp pain through my right shoulder clavicle area that lasted for awhile actually, but perhaps that was from the humidity and me sweating 50 pounds off. But it went away for the last few hours of the night (I took some advil). Heard a woman yelp, which was weird and caught it on my recorder as I was sitting with another person. Might have been others in our group, but they would have had to come our way to be heard then turn around as no one came our way (cafeteria). But I did get a lot of chills at times. Some I know were brought on by me, but a few of them just hit me out of nowhere and, well, hard to explain.

To conclude I can't wait to go back. I will definitely do it solo again, but I will be better guarded and more prepared. After looking over all evidence and playing with the lighting of my pics, there is something unexplained going on there I want to explore further. Cameras and recorders capture what is present, and can capture things our eyes and ears cant as mine did. As of now I wont post any paranormal pics but one. I took this in a middle hallway when I was alone & I dont know which floor yet. It was resized down for here, but it is in 1980x1080. No lighting has been tampered with, but tinker with the lighting (contrast, backlight, etc.), and something odd may appear, or not. (I use PhotoScape, a good rare free software)



***The next post will be pics of it I found the net from historical pics to current ones. Also google "Waverly Hills Sanatorium", lot of stuff on utube & websites out there.