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Waverly Hills Sanatorium, situated on a hillside in Louisville,
Kentucky, exemplifies early 20th-century sanatorium design tailored
to tuberculosis (TB) treatment. Opened in 1910 as a modest two-story
wooden facility to house 40-50 patients, it featured an
administrative building flanked by two open-air pavilions—one for
male patients and one for females—each accommodating about 20
individuals. These pavilions emphasized the "fresh air cure," with
large verandas for ventilation and sunlight exposure, critical in an
era before antibiotics. By 1912, a hospital addition for advanced
cases added 40 beds, and in 1914, a children's pavilion increased
capacity to around 130. Due to surging TB cases (Louisville reported
over 200 annually in the 1910s), the original wooden structures
proved inadequate and fire-prone, prompting a major expansion.
Construction of the iconic main building began in March 1924,
designed by Louisville architects James J. Gaffney and Dennis Xavier
Murphy in a Tudor Gothic Revival style with brick construction for
durability. This five-story "batwing" or "boomerang"-shaped
structure—resembling an elongated U or H with wings—opened on
October 17, 1926, boosting capacity to over 400 patients. The
asymmetrical layout maximized airflow through central solariums
(sunrooms), with long hallways connecting east and west wings. The
building spans about 500 feet in length, with patient rooms lining
both sides of corridors, opening onto open-air balconies or
"sleeping porches" for heliotherapy (sun treatment). These porches,
unglazed to allow constant fresh air, wrapped around the exterior,
even in Kentucky's variable climate. The design incorporated
isolation features: segregated wings for different patient
severities, nurses' stations at hallway ends for oversight, and
utility tunnels below for discreet operations.
The sanatorium's
layout reflected TB protocols—rest, nutrition, and isolation—while
accommodating support functions like kitchens and labs. Below
ground, a network of tunnels facilitated logistics. Post-1961
closure (due to TB's decline via streptomycin), the site briefly
became Woodhaven Geriatric Center (1962-1980), but neglect led to
decay; today, it's preserved as a historic site and paranormal
venue, with tours highlighting its eerie, labyrinthine interiors.
The overall footprint includes the main building, detached
laundry/boiler house (connected via tunnel), and the 1914 children's
pavilion (now ruins).
The building's most distinctive feature is its "bat-wing" or
"boomerang" shape (sometimes described as curved or boomerang-style).
This intentional design creates a central spine with wings that extend
outward and angle slightly backward. The layout acts as a natural funnel
for fresh air to circulate through the structure, which was critical for
the era's primary TB treatments: rest, fresh air, and sunlight
(heliotherapy).
Each floor includes large solariums (sun porches or
open patient areas) along the outer edges. These had no glass windows in
many sections—only copper screens—to allow constant airflow and sunlight
exposure year-round, regardless of weather. Patient rooms lined the
inner sides of the wings, with hallways running through the center. The
north wing housed functional areas like the kitchen and morgue access.
The complex sits atop a hill for elevation and isolation. Key site
features include:
A separate heating plant at the base of the
hill.
Auxiliary structures (many no longer standing or separate):
original 1910 pavilions, a children's pavilion (added ~1914), nurses'
dormitory, and other support buildings.
Two notable tunnels:
The
steam and supply tunnel (with a cable car system) for delivering goods
from the bottom of the hill.
The famous Body Chute (or "Death
Tunnel") — a ~600-foot-long, enclosed concrete tunnel with ~150 steps,
originally built for construction materials and staff access. It later
served to discreetly transport bodies (via a motorized rail/cable
system) from the morgue to ambulances or trains at the base, so living
patients wouldn't see corpses and lose hope. Up to 24 deaths per day
occurred at peak. Access begins in the north wing on the 1st floor (near
the small morgue).
The building includes a central
tower/belltower (with elevator access and rooftop elements) and multiple
stairwells/fire escapes. It has a basement level for utilities. The
structure fell into disuse after TB treatments declined in the 1950s–60s
(due to antibiotics); it later briefly became a nursing home before
abandonment. Today, it is preserved for historical tours.
Below is the map of the complex of Waverly Hills as it existed in 1954. The plan is aligned so that the top is the Western direction. Most of the buildings that you see on the map have been torn down. However the roads and rail road are still in place. Several buildings are now covered by the dense forest that shrunk in the past decades due to construction boom. As far as I know no one tried to carry out any archeological digs around the area. Many items might be found that can give a greater feel for the time period and daily life of the people here.
Waverly Hills Tuberculosis Hospital was served by Illinois Central Railroad that supplied 75 carloads of coal to the medical complex annually.
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First Floor (Ground/Entry Level)
This level served as the primary
public and administrative entrance, blending welcoming spaces with
essential medical and support functions.
The grand lobby, now
heavily tagged with layers of urban graffiti from years of abandonment,
once greeted visitors and patients.
A morgue for handling the
deceased.
Maintenance office for facility upkeep.
A dedicated
dentist's office to address oral health issues common among long-term
patients.
A small library where patients could read or pass time.
Solarium areas lined with patient rooms, designed for maximum sunlight
and fresh air exposure—a core TB treatment principle.
Medical
laboratories for testing and diagnostics.
X-ray room paired with a
darkroom for developing films.
One central nurse's station for
monitoring and coordination.
A salon/barber shop to maintain
patients' grooming and dignity during extended stays.
The entrance to
the notorious Body Chute (also called the "Death Tunnel"), a 500-foot
underground passage that discreetly carried bodies downhill to awaiting
vehicles.
Electrical breaker and transformer rooms for power
management.
Cold storage rooms for perishable food supplies.
An
antique electric potato peeler, a remnant of the era's kitchen prep
equipment.
Second Floor
Focused on communal dining, spiritual
support, and basic care, this floor supported large groups of patients.
A chapel for religious services and comfort.
Two nurse's stations
for better coverage across the wings.
A large kitchen capable of
preparing meals for over 500 people in one seating, reflecting the
sanatorium's self-contained nature.
Main dining room that typically
seated 328 but could expand to accommodate up to 448 during peak times.
A smaller auxiliary dining room for more private or restricted meals.
Minor surgery room for less complex procedures.
Additional solarium
spaces with adjacent patient rooms for heliotherapy (sunlight exposure).
Numerous patients' rooms.
A compact small kitchen for supplementary
food prep.
Third Floor
This level emphasized rehabilitation,
light meals, and therapy.
Another minor surgery room.
A small
dining hall for more intimate or ward-specific meals.
An attached
small kitchen.
Two nurse's stations.
Occupational therapy areas
where patients engaged in crafts or light activities to aid recovery and
mental well-being.
Solarium with open-air patient rooms.
Standard
patients' rooms along the wings.
Fourth Floor
Reserved for
more intensive medical interventions, this floor housed advanced
treatment areas.
Two nurse's stations.
A waiting room for
families or pre-procedure patients.
Major surgery room with an
adjacent preparation or sterilization space for complex operations
(experimental TB procedures were sometimes performed here).
Recovery
room for post-operative care.
A small kitchen.
Small dining hall.
Solarium for continued fresh-air therapy.
Patients' rooms.
Fifth Floor
The top level focused on specialized light-based therapy
and pediatric care, with some unique features.
Heliotherapy areas
dedicated to controlled sunlight exposure, believed to help combat
tuberculosis bacteria.
A small kitchen.
Infamous Room 520 (often
cited in paranormal lore as a hotspot for reported activity).
A
children's playground area for young patients.
The bell tower,
offering panoramic views and possibly used for signaling.
Another
small kitchen.
Basement
Primarily utilitarian and
support-oriented.
Direct access to the separate laundry building
for handling linens and clothing.
Elevator maintenance areas.
Pipe
maintenance and mechanical rooms for plumbing and heating systems.
This layout reflects Waverly Hills' emphasis on isolation, fresh
air, nutrition, and medical care during the height of the TB crisis.
Many areas featured open solariums (glass-enclosed or screened porches)
to maximize sunlight and ventilation. Today, the building is a popular
site for historical and paranormal tours, with much of its original
structure preserved despite decades of abandonment and gradual
restoration efforts.
Solariums and Porches: Central to every floor, these glass-enclosed
or open-air spaces allowed patients to recline in beds wheeled to
windows or balconies for UV exposure, believed to kill TB bacteria. The
batwing shape funneled prevailing winds through these areas for
ventilation.
Nurses' Stations: Positioned at corridor intersections
on most floors, often with small adjacent rooms for medicine, linens,
and pantries, enabling efficient monitoring.
Patient Rooms: Typically
20x20 feet, with two beds per room, high ceilings (12-15 feet), and
operable windows/doors to porches. Rooms were segregated by gender and
disease stage.
Body Chute Tunnel: A 500-600-foot enclosed
subterranean tunnel (45 feet underground at deepest) from the
first-floor morgue to the hill's base, originally for coal/supply
delivery via motorized rail and cable car. During peak operations
(1920s-1940s), it transported up to two bodies daily discreetly to
railroad tracks, preventing demoralization. Features concrete steps on
one side, rail on the other, and periodic air shafts for
light/ventilation. Side branches connected to laundry and steam plants.
Other Tunnels: Access tunnels below the main building linked to the
boiler room and laundry, with crawl spaces for pipe maintenance.
Elevators serviced upper floors, with a basement for mechanicals.
Rooftop and Exteriors: The fifth-floor roof served as an open-air
treatment area, with playground elements for children.
The 1914 children's pavilion, separate from the main building, was a
two-story wooden structure with dorm-style rooms and a schoolroom, now
overgrown ruins. Laundry facilities were in a detached brick building at
the hill's base, linked by tunnel for soiled linens (burned if
contaminated). The site's hillside location aided drainage and views,
but contributed to isolation.
This layout, while innovative for 1926,
became obsolete by the 1950s as TB waned. Preservation efforts since
2001 by owners Tina and Charlie Mattingly focus on restoration, with
tours navigating the vast, decaying corridors—echoing with history's
weight.