In the early 1900's, the Waverly Hills Tuberculosis Sanatorium gave a lot to the neighborhood below it. Cinders from its boiler room paved a portion of East Pages Lane beginning at Dixie Highway. And almost every family near the intersection found some employment there. The hospital was built on a mountain ridge off Dixie Highway in 1911 through the efforts of several prominent Louisvillians who were concerned about the spread and treatment of tuberculosis. Over the years, the neighborhood around it acquired the name. Most of the hospital buildings that still stand are vacant and nearly hidden from the road below. However, a few of the houses once used by doctors are now private residences on East Pages Lane. The hospital left a legacy -- a quiet, woodsy backdrop for the neighborhood, land for a park and a golf course, and a colorful, if occasionally morbid, history.
The hospital opened in 1911. At the time, Jefferson County had one of the country's highest rates of tuberculosis. And the hospital, which offered plenty of bed rest and fresh air as well as some surgical methods of treating the disease, was thought to be an excellent facility. Many people died at the hospital, and because hospital officials were concerned that the sight of hearses would be bad for morale the bodies were sent to the bottom of the hill through a steam tunnel. The entrances to the tunnel have been blocked off, but it still exists underground. As the number of patients and workers grew, a community developed on the hospital grounds. Most employees lived there. Some shared large homes, while doctors had private residences for their families. A dormitory-type building was constructed for nurses.
As the hospital grew, the Waverly Hills reference became predominant in the neighborhood. Although the buildings can't be easily seen from Dixie Highway, the main entrance to the hospital begins near the intersection of Dixie and Pages, where an apartment complex and mobile-home dealership now sit.
Eventually the need for sanitariums diminished when researchers discovered streptomycin, an antibiotic that could be used to treat tuberculosis patients at home. The hospital closed in 1961. Some hospital employees got jobs at a nursing home that opened at the Waverly Hills site. Shortly thereafter, more than 100 acres behind the hospital were turned into Waverly Park, which currently totals about 300 acres and includes the nine-hole Bobby Nichols Golf Course. Some higher-priced subdivisions have been built along Arnoldtown and Third Street roads in the Waverly Park area. The nursing home at Waverly Hills was closed by the state in 1980, allegedly for poor patient care.
The land was sold in three parcels in 1986. Although all three owners want to develop the land, no definite plans have been announced. But the current silence and emptiness of the Waverly Hills grounds belies the memories that employees have of that place.
On a personal note: There are rumors of ghost and strange happenings in this area. Some people have an uneasy feeling when walking the grounds of the hospital or the park nearby. My grandmother spent her last years in the Waverly Hills nursing home and I have a peaceful feeling of her watching over me when I go through these forests.
Cache is a Gatorade bottle.
From where the cache is placed in Waverly Park, the old hospital is located across the valley and on the next ridge. The area near the cache has some very old trees. You will have to check out one of the younger ones that is near by, it is really strange.
As with all Waverly Park caches, the best and safest place to park is off Arnoldtown Road near the end of the road next to the lake.
This cache placed and maintained by a member of Heartland Geocachers, GEOCKY and InKy
