Interesting fact: My great grandfather was the chief engineer there from around 1950 until it closed in 1961. My father would tell me stories of playing in the body chute as a kid which always weirded me out, lol. Thanks for the upload! :)
Good thing your great grandfather got enough exercise there while he was fighting Tuberculosis as a boy. Did your father want to become an engineer or did he have another career goal in mind at first while being a freshman?
OMG as a Louisvillian, I LOVED this episode!! I grew up just a few miles from Waverly. In fact, in the fall, when the leaves were off the trees on the hills, we could see the tower in the distance, from our back yard! It was the subject of MANY ghost stories told late at night, in our treehouse, lol. As an adult, I visited it a few times, for the haunted house and tours they had there. I never saw anything spooky (other than the whole place itself, lol), but I will say, when we went into the old morgue, there was a place in the room where the air was very cold. Much colder than anywhere else inside, or outside. There could be a perfectly rational, scientific explanation for that. But there was definitely a cold pocket. Waverly is beloved to us locals, even in its decrepit state. So many of us have grown up with it, with the stories, with relatives who worked there or were sick there or even -snuck in after it closed- visited there. (My uncle, back in the day, and my sister's best friend, much later. They didn't vandalize anything, just explored.) It used to be a lot easier to get into. Though one of the stories about the place was that there was a security guard with a guard dog, who lived there, and would sic the dog on you to chase you out, lol. The story I heard about the tunnels, or "body chutes", as everyone I've ever known has always called them, is that the doctors were afraid for the living patients to see just how many people were dying, as it could lower morale, and cause many of them to stop fighting, give up, and die themselves. So the used to chutes to transport the bodies, so that this could be done in stealth. But that's just local lore, who knows for sure if it's really true. I remember the Jesus statue proposal, too, and how it wasn't terribly popular, lol. And one of the stories about the nurse, was that she had an affair with a married doctor and became pregnant, out of wedlock, ofc, back in the days when that was a mortal sin, and the doctor abandoned her, so she hung herself in room 502. Incidentally, 502 is the area code in that area. So I don't know if her suicide being said to take place in that room is true and a cool coincidence, or if that room was picked for that reason, and it became part of the mythos. But still, a fun little fact. Anyway, THANK YOU SO MUCH for highlighting a feature of my home city!!! We are so proud of Waverly Hills, for its historical significance, and, yes, for its incredibly haunted reputation, which is a cool thing we can claim as ours. It's a part of us. We love it. Yes, it was a place of suffering and pain (I've heard that the nursing home it housed, in particular, was absolutely DISMAL). But there was also a sense of community there. There were schools and events right on the grounds, because, like you said, they couldn't leave. Even the doctors and nurses. Friendships were formed, relationships began, there were even times of laughter and fun. It wasn't a fun place. ofc. But they made the best of it, in their bad times. And because it's being preserved, those people who suffered and died are being remembered. Not forgotten. And much of the money from the events held there, is what makes that preservation possible. Also, those events that take place bring laughter and fun. If I died somewhere like that, I think I'd like to see that it's now a place of positivity, and that people were learning about it and preserving it, at the same time. Just my opinion. I d want to offer one tiny correction to what you said: Waverly is 20 minutes from Downtown Louisville, but it still IS actually in Louisville. It's in the suburbs, right in between the PRP/Valley Station areas. Other than that, PHENOMINAL video, and SO exciting to see my hometown on your channel!!! Thank you again!!!
Update: I talked to my sister tonight, who actually went up there with her best friend. She said there was indeed a security guard up there at the time (about 30 years ago or so). She said he didn't actually live there, but that he DID have a mean guard dog he'd sic on you (probably from the end of a leash, as no one wants people suing them for getting dog bitten, even if they were trespassing) and that yes, they would chase you out of there. So, there's that, lol.
You literally spelled the name wrong every single time. Waverly not wavery, makes your entire story pretty unbelievable. If you had lived so close for so long, or been inside a you claim, how did you not know how to spell its name?
@@insertnamehere2635 Why is there ALWAYS someone, in every single thread, yelling "FaKe!!" Uh, ever heard of typos? Obviously I was excited and typing too fast, and autocorrect got me and my fat thumbs, lol. And then my dyslexic, ADHD brain missed it, when I proofread. It happens. And it's all fixed now. But yes, I absolutely did grow up in Louisville. In PRP. And I'm proud of it. My father still lives in PRP, and my sister in Shively. And anyway, if I was gonna lie about Waverly, I would've come up with something way better. Like, I'd say I communicated with one of the spirits up there, or something. But no, these are just the normal memories of someone who grew up there, and the excitement of seeing my hometown featured on a prominent platform, for the whole world to see. Sorry to disappoint, lol. Edit, for yet another typo. Lol.
I love that you made this video on Waverly Hills. Other videos go on about how "haunted" it is, but they never go into the depth of its history that you did. I grew up in Louisville and fondly remember sneaking into Waverly with friends in the 1980's. This was before the scrappers started tearing the place apart. We used to scare the crap out of one another with spooky stories but never saw anything paranormal.
I am one of a few who have actually been inside the building whileit was functional. My mother volunteered there in the early 1980s. I barely remember remember it The only fact you got wrong is stating Waverly hills sanatorium is outside of Louisville. At the time it was built it was but now Louisville is basically Jefferson County. One thing you missed and is talked about is the body shuit. I live 5 minutes away and im to scared to visit it.
I'd love to see you do one of these on the Missouri State Penitentiary. It's more preserved history rather than abandoned at this point but still a plethora of content.
This whole place seriously gives me the creeps. I don't know why, but something about it just gives me the sense that there's something in there. Regardless, this is another incredible video Jake, and I hope to see more infamous haunted abandoned locations in the future!
I live within driving distance of it and everyone in my high school who went there said how off the vibes were like it actually felt haunted. Never going there myself lol
Jake- BSF was the first and only channel on YT I subscribed to for years... it has been awesome to watch your skills grow and flourish in this space! Thank you for holding strong and assembling such interesting videos! WHS is near where I live now and you did it justice with this video!
I lived in Louisville for a while, and every time I passed Waverly Hills I would get a little chill. Not from ghosts or anything, just thinking about how much suffering and death happened in that place. Glad to see you cover it for spooky season!
Years ago I spent a night in November in Waverly Hills. Some of the folks who stayed, all gathered together on the 4th floor to await paranormal activity. I preferred to go to the 3rd floor by myself and just be peaceful. I must not be attractive to spirits as I had no experiences. All was quiet and peaceful. What an amazing facility for it's time. It had headsets on the screened porches so patients could listen to news and music as they rested and breathed fresh air. Amazing history.
My grandmother was a patient there back in the '30s. She was there for about a year. When I interviewed her for school about her time there she had nothing but good memories and said her time was pleasant there. She had a milder case compared to other people
This is so cool how a couple have taken it on and are trying to restore it. It’s nice to see a positive ending. There are a couple of places in the town I live in - where couples have taken on a massive project In order to restore them to the former glory.! People call them crazy - but if we don’t have them our history will be lost!! Another great episode Jake!! 👍🏻😁
Hey Jake. Have you ever thought about doing a video on the "old" Williamsburg Pottery in Williamsburg, VA? A LOT of people have great memories of going there! I would love to see a video on the abandoned grounds and buildings still standing!
Suggestion for an episode: Frontier Village in San Jose that first opened in 1961. It was a small park with western themed rides and attractions that would also host corporate events. It provided summer jobs for older teens and college students (I worked in the saloon and my best friend ran the Ferris Wheel and drove the narrow-gauge railroad train) In the mid-70s Fess Parker wanted to develop a bigger park in Santa Clara--that ended up becoming Marriott's Great America. Frontier Village couldn't compete and closed down in 1980. Love the channel...keep up the good work!
Hey Jake! You should cover the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center and the adjacent Metropolitan State Hospital both in Waltham, MA. From what I know, they're both abandoned metal hospitals with a lot of history
My wife and I love watching your chill and fascinating videos. Your research and videography is respectable and well tuned. Keep up the good work Jake.
I visited an abandoned sanatarium in Maryland this year, and was confused by the continuous porch that every room had access to. I was like , "wow, they had their own balconies! How nice..." It's really interesting to now know what they were for.
@@Jason_Phillips3679 Yeah, sure! It's called Glendale Hospital. History - It opened in 1934 to house tuberculosis patients during the tuberculosis epidemic, consisting of 23 buildings and over 200 acres of land. In the 1940s, when a vaccine for TB was introduced, cases dropped and the hospital was used for other medical purposes. For the rest of its operational life, it was a home for the criminally insane. In 1981, it closed its doors permanently due to high levels of asbestos in the construction of the building, and because the cost to remove and replace the asbestos and lead paint was too high for the property management to afford. It hasn't been demolished, due to the immense cost it would take to contain the asbestos particles that would be released into the air by the demolition. Surprisingly, despite only having been abandoned since 1981, the hospital is almost unrecognizable compared to how it looked during its years of operation. If you plan to visit, these are the things you should know: - Due to the lead paint and high levels of asbestos, you MUST wear an N95 NIOSH approved particulate respirator. - The grounds were patrolled for years, more heavily during some years than others, but now remains under little or no security. When we went twice, there was zero security, and we even saw a few other people exploring it as well. There is no fencing blocking any of the entrances, as the property has a public road with neighborhoods lining it that runs down the middle of it. - We parked just behind the main building, at the WB&A Trail parking lot on Electric Avenue, so our car and license plate couldn't be seen by any possible police. We went through the woods to the back of the building to avoid being seen walking on the main road and into the property. There is an entrance to the building in the back, directly into the sanatorium. The hallways are very long and many of the rooms are the same. You'll find elevators, some that have crashed to the bottom and some that still sit, waiting for passengers that will never come. I wouldn't recommend entering any of the elevators, as the stability of them is uncertain. Next to each elevator is the motor room, where you can see the pulleys and huge steel motors that carried the elevators up and down. The staircases in the main building are made completely out of solid steel set on concrete, and are surprisingly very stable for the condition that the building is in, so going from floor to floor is easy and pretty safe, for now. A lot of the drywall and dust has settled on the stairs, so take your time going up, as the dust piles cause the stairs to be uneven, and you could slip if you're not careful. - Access to the roof is simple, you'll find a ladder, one on each end of the building, on the top floor, where you can climb up into the roof. The roof, just like the stairs, was surprisingly very stable and solid, no holes, mushy spots or collapsing sections. The view is beautiful at sunset, I would recommend watching the sunset there. - Bring a friend or a group, as it is extremely creepy, especially at night! You don't want to be there alone, as I mentioned before that the hallways are very long and dark, especially at night. - Obviously, bring flashlights but be careful shining them through windows that face the main road. - If you touch anything, DON'T touch your face until you can wash your hands thoroughly, as there are likely asbestos particles on everything. - Make sure all of your phones are charged in case of an emergency. - And lastly, plan for this to be a few hours, as the property is large and exploring all of the buildings will take you a while. We have only explored the main building and the smaller children's building on the other side of the property, and it took us 3 hours or so. As the property is private and there are a few "no trespassing" signs, you understand and accept the risk of being caught and fined or arrested. Be respectful of the property -- don't damage, vandalize or steal anything, and don't litter; people have died here and respecting the land is extremely important. I do not condone or encourage any disrespectful acts such as the ones I listed below. Stay safe, protect yourself and have fun while also being respectful. Tip: We made it a whole day trip and spent the morning and early afternoon in Washington DC, and then headed to the hospital in mid-afternoon. It's a half hour drive from DC. Afterwards, we got dinner at a very unique and delicious restaurant called Silver Diner. I would highly recommend it, their milkshakes are the bomb!
Thanks for covering something near my hometown of Louisville!!! My parents visited Waverly Hills for a ghost tour once. They remember others in the tour group claiming to see ghosts and even being touched by one. And at the end of the tour everybody has to say goodbye to the ghosts or the ghosts will follow you home.
I've been watching this series for several years now and it's one of my favorites on RU-vid. Abandoned retail is great and I enjoy some transportation related topics: Yellow Freight, the New York, Ontario, and Western Railway, and Consolidated Freightways. Would love to see those featured in this series.
I grew up in Louisville during the 80s and 90s. Me and my friends would sneak into Waverly a few times. My last time inside there made me a believer of some the rumors of being haunted
I LOVE your videos. Great stories, amazing narration... you are brilliant. Thank you for always putting so much into your videos. You are truly a class act. 🖖
I love this series so much, it's so interesting taking a peak into the past, and your preservation work (because that's what this is!) through this series is phenomenal. So many of these places often fall into complete disrepair and/or are completely demolished, leaving future generations unaware of their history. Thank you for not just making incredibly interesting videos, but also preserving the past. You should do an episode on The Enchanted Forest in Ellicott City, Maryland. It opened in 1955, closed for good in 1995, and sat abandoned for 10 years (until active preservation began in 2005). It closed years before I was born, but my mom used to go when she was a kid and most of the structures were moved to a nearby farm for preservation, so I've actually seen some of the original pieces of the park!
HI SUN ,, I LOVE ALL YOUR TEACHING VIDEOS .. I AM GLAD THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO SAFE THIS BUILDING IN WHAT EVER WAY ,,CAR SHOW , HORROR WALKS,, THIS BUILDING IS HISTORY I AGREE WITH YOU.. I WAS IN THE ARMY MILITARY THEN WAS A R.N. NURSE IN MY LIFE AT A HOSPITAL FOR MANY YEARS ,,. WATCHING YOUR VIDEO DOES TELL THE OLD DAYS OF TRUTH,, ITS AWFUL TO SUFFER,, I HAD PNEUMONIA IN 2016 IN THE LEFT LUNG THAT WAS HELL I FEEL FOR THOSE PT.S,,, I FINALLY GOT BETTER .. THEN IN 2019 WE ALL WORKED WITH THE COVID PT.S WE DIDNT KNOW IF WE WOULD GET SICK,,, WE HAD PT.S DIEING , GOING HOME , THEN OTHER PT.S IN THE HOSPITAL FOR A MONTH .. I CAN FEEL THE PAIN FROM THESE PT.S AND THE DR.S AND NURSES IN THOSE DAYS ,,.. THANK YOU .. ARMY MEDICAL VETERAN ,(RET)-- (RET) R.N.
It's honestly refreshing to see a more analytical video that is professionally done on a quote-unquote haunted place. I listen to podcasts and always find myself questioning when the notoriety for places like this got their start,vAnd when did it become Financial for the ownership, who perpetuates these stories. I would like to see more videos in this same vein as, like you said, you can actually visit places like this and it would be cool for those of us who aren't into breaking and entering / trespassing to be able to visit places like this
Love this documentary - amazing job and super informative. I’ve been to Waverly Hills, and I can say it’s a very ominous but awesome place that I hope to visit again. I recommend to anyone that they visit if they’re able, and I highly suggest taking the night tour.
This reminded me of Eloise Asylum in Westland, MI (Metro Detroit). That facility has a crazy history from poorhouse to sanatarium to one of the largest mental hospitals in the country.
Jake, If you do read this, I would love for you to make a video about one if my favorite buildings, AMC Headquarters, in Detroit, it’s been demolished now, but I think it deserves a video on your channel, it was such an amazing building, even in it’s final days, it was still so amazing to see.
Hi Jake! Very interesting subject and video. I love the paranormal side of things and do believe that any location that had this much suffering and anguish had to leave residual energy of some sort. So I’m glad to see that the historical side is being preserved and respected. Always enjoy a new video from you!
@@GARRISON1 And bright sun films is the only one that can do it!!!! There is a cool video here on RU-vid. It’s a bunch of still pictures of the hospital and what they did inside. The Metallica song “Sanitarium” is playing in the video.
Thanks for this, Jake! Watching this plus Shane and Ryan's video on it creates a complete picture of the past vs. the present for this historical site.
You're very good at talking about abandoned, bankrupted and canceled things. Keep it up. Maybe someday for your next bankrupted episode do: Lyricks Studios (aka Lyons Group), the company that first created and produced the early Barney the Dinosaur eras,
I grew up 5 minutes from Waverly Hills, which kids snuck in there frequently. I've always been intrigued by it and watched tons of videos about it. This video has info and photos I've never seen! Excellent job!!!❤
Dude, this was incredible! If you ever plan on doing abandoned videos similar to this place, I would say the Statler Hotel in Buffalo is a really cool spot! It was plagued with mafia activity, and I’ve heard that it’s in the process of currently being remodeled!
Would love to see you cover Harder Hall in Highlands County, Florida sometime! There are a lot of rumors about its haunting but also it's just crazy how many times the property has changed hands to no avail
Great video! My Uncle Jack was in a Sanatorium for TB, late 1940's. He survived and lived to be 85. The building is gone but a memorial exists in its place and the foundation can still be seen.
You should look into Central State Hospital in Milledgeville Georgia. It was an insane asylum that started in 1854 and ran until the 70s. It’s full of tragic stories about “treatments” for mentally ill and mass graves. It held over 15,000 patients at its height.
I’ve heard of this places on another video of most haunted places on earth. Some of the photos give it an eerie feeling, like something used in a horror film.
Great video Jake! I am with you, I am glad to see the structure saved from the wrecking ball. I think the structure is pretty nice looking because it dates from the time when buildings were made aesthetically pleasing.
Great video! I remember watching Scariest Places on Earth as a kid and then hearing about this place again last year from Shane and Ryan on Watcher’s RU-vid channel.
I know this is wildly late but I adore your videos and I always have and it’s crazy that you chose to do a video on a abandoned place in my city. I love your videos and I truly have for 5 years haha. Much love
Well researched. The Mattingly’s have hours filled with video from the security cameras. I was also impressed that you got the name of our city, correct. I noticed you didn’t mention the murder of the homeless man that happened there during its abandoned period. A homeless man and his dog was living there. People broken in l Ben Hill person, and his dog They threw the bodies down the elevator shaft and set him on fire. But if you want information regarding stories and history, you need to talk to Dale. I believe he is part of the historical society provides tours
From what I can tell, there's no actual record of a homeless man being killed there (people can't seem to agree on whether it was a homeless man who was killed, or a security guard who just fell down the shaft - I think neither are true), nor do experts believe that a nurse killed herself in Room 502 (they mentioned that there are no records of suicides, but also said there was nothing in the room that you could hang yourself from - there were certain pipes, but those weren't added until long after the suicide would've happened). I think all of those stories are just local legends that give the place an air of spookiness, and the people who profit off of the tours have a motive to keep those stories going around.
I have been watching your channel since the beginning and recently in Buffalo, NY we have 2 malls slated to be demolished and redeveloped with quite a long and unique story to each of them. The "Eastern Hills Mall" and the "Boulevard Mall". I always think of your stories when watching these malls decay and empty over time, but since they are still open and standing they might make for interesting stories :) Keep making the amazing content.
Would love to see you do a piece on the Buffalo Central Terminal. I volunteered there in college and it's where I fell in love with architecture, historic preservation, and adaptive reuse. It's in ok shape now but the exposure you could bring to it would be invaluable.
Another fantastic video! Been watching your content from the very beginning and it just keeps getting better and better. The addition of Bankrupt and your new travel reviews really makes it one of the best channels on RU-vid! I would love to see a video on “The Ridges” in Athens, Ohio. It’s an abandoned asylum.
I visited Waverly last November. I can't really say if it's truly haunted or not (I'm not really a believer but I tag along with friends that ghost hunt), but the building is beautiful. There's something amazing about seeing it in person, you just have to stop for a minute to take it all in. I really want to go back someday. Although most of the outbuildings have been torn down, there's still foundations and staircases where they once were and there are maps within the building of where they all once stood. If you haven't been, I definitely recommend the place if you like abandoned buildings as much as I do 😅
Another sanatorium that has, in my opinion, beautiful exterior architecture is the Molly Stark Sanatorium that has been sitting abandoned for many years.
Omg that building needs to be restored..... I would love nothing more than spending every day showing that building the tlc it deserves. It would cost, but it would be worth it! I miss architecture that had more details to it on the inside. It's the little things that add up. And it was built to be solid.... omg give it a beautiful garden to just stroll through.... 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢
I always like your videos Jake and they are so good with history. I love History and you do a great video with the history of these abandoned buildings. Would you be doing Buffalo Central Station in Buffalo, New York? It's an abandoned building that used to be a train station.
Another great video, Jake! Suggestion: Ohio State Reformatory, Mansfield, OH. This has been covered by many others, but I would love to see your version. I took a tour of it and they tell the story during one of the tours that the one agency of the state of Ohio sent a wrecking crew to tear it all down, while another agency approved the filming of Shawshank Redemption. The story goes that both crews showed up on the same day, and we know which one stayed and which one left. Aside from that tale, there is so much to the history and architecture of that beautiful building. I have been to the Halloween Haunt, the day tours, and the overnight ghost hunts. It is so grandiose and imposing! One of the things that happened there was that the warden's wife was killed by the warden's handgun. The official story was that she was cleaning a closet when the gun went off after she unwittingly removed it from a top shelf.
As another native Louavillian, I would like to say "thanks!" for the video. Have you considered doing a video on Guntown Mountain? It was a wild west theme park located by Mammoth Cave, which is 15 to 20 some odd miles south of Waverly (down I-65).
Using famous and historical abandoned structures and their usually large grounds for community & entertainment events is the way to go. This was done at the old Bethlehem Steel Mill in Bethlehem, PA. (Jake, I commented on this on your vid re: the demolished Catskill resorts.) You can take a walking tour of the outside (no tours inside the mill for safety reasons) and get info at stops along the walk about all the steel that was produced there over many decades. Plus There's a great museum. It's some great history. Whatever group planned this did a class job. I'm sure it cost a lot of money to prepare everything for the public to be able to visit. When you drive on the property for the tour, you start at and buy your tickets at a really nice visitors center. Plus there's a museum there too. I understand that a lot of the property is privately owned.
Hey Jake excellent video once again, you don’t disappoint. So what’s next for the next episode? How about old Woodwards department store that be a good one. Anyways keep up the good videos 👍
Love Jake's channel and other urbex stuff. I've got to work in loads of abandoned buildings from the late '80's onwards, but there were no cameras in phones back then, plus we are never allowed to film or take pictures of any interiors, I had to sign a secrecy clause back in 1988. Creepiest empty building I ever worked in was Queen's Hospital in Croydon.
I suggest you look into the Lake Delores waterpark in Southern California. This place was one of the early, and sucessful for a time, concepts for the modern waterpark. Built in the 1950s, it has quite a story but has been abandoned since fall of 2004.
You should do Greystone Psychiatric Center in NJ, it was unfortunately torn down a couple years ago. The building was amazing, was the largest foundation in the US until the Pentagon was built.
Another great video, Jake! For a future video, how about considering the Buffalo Central Terminal? I'm sure you've heard of it, being close by, and restoration work is slowly but surely being done.
Great video as always I've been a long-time supporter of the channel. Since you asked about recommendations for future videos the original hard Rock Orlando might be right up your alley. The Hard Rock was basically placed within the park at Universal from before opening day all the way till 1999 when it was replaced by the cart restaurant in citywalk. Videos and photos of the location are somewhat hard to come by. The location then sat abandoned for many years before Universal decided to tear it down I think around 2010 but don't quote me on that. Hard Rock and Universal have had an interesting relationship at one point I believe they had partial ownership of the resort. Thank you for the great videos and even if you don't decide to make this into a video I hope you enjoy some of the history.
I really enjoyed watching this video! Your videos are always filled with great facts, historical information and great insights. I live in MurrietA CA, there is an abandonment Mill (KEA Mill) I have yet to see a good historical video of this site. Just thought I recommend this place.
I always love your videos and this does not disappoint. For a suggestion, I would say to take a look at Gwinnett Place Mall in Georgia. It’s mostly abandoned with an anchor store or two opened, but it’s interesting as this is where they filmed the mall scenes in Stranger Things along with a couple other shows.
