Waverly Hills Sanatorium

Major Thomas H. Hayes built a one room school house so his daughters would not have to travel to school. He hired Lizzie Lee Harris as the teacher. She named the school house which she named Waverley School after Walter Scott’s Waverley novels. Major Hayes liked the peaceful sounding name so he renamed his property Waverley Hill. When tuberculosis struck Kentucky they formed the board of The Board of Tuberculosis who purchased the property from Hayes and opened the sanatorium and they decided to keep the name Waverley Hill. Over the years the name fluctuated between Waverley Hill and Waverly HIlls and eventually Waverly HIlls stuck.

The sanatorium opened in 1910 to accommodate a few dozen tuberculosis (aka white plague) patients. Over the years of it’s operation, the sanatorium quickly expanded, often times having temporary structures built in the court yard to house the infected. The Hospital closed in 1961 when streptomycin was developed and used to successfully treat tuberculosis. It is truly unknown how many people passed in Waverly Hills Sanatorium.

In 1962 Waverly HIlls Sanatorium became Woodhaven Medical Services to treat those who suffered from Dementia, mental health, and mobility problems. in 1982 Woodhaven was ordered closed by the state of Kentucky due to reports of over crowding, under staffing, and patient neglect.

1983 it was purchased by J. Clifford Todd who was going to convert the property into a prison. This project never started due to protests by the local residents. They altered the plan and was going to build apartments, but that project also fell through because the Jefferson Fiscal Court did not follow through and purchase 140 acres of the property.

In 1996 Robert Alberhasky bought Waverly Hills and was going to construct the “World’s largest Jesus Statue.” Donations for the construction fell short, and never started.

In 2001, Tina and Charlie Mattingly purchased the property and started the restoration efforts. They began holding tours, and other special events to raise money for the restoration.

in 2003 the Waverly HIlls Historical Society was formed and has since taken over the property. They run paranormal tours, investigations, and other events to fund restoration, preservation, and educational programs.

Visit Waverly HIlls Official Website for more information.