Dear Readers, I am no longer affliliated as a volunteer member of the Waverly Hills Historical Society, Inc. I have
retired after 8 years of service at Waverly. My work schedule no longer permits me to be able to give tours any more,
and issues within my family are consuming more of my time now than ever before. But, one thing has not changed, and
that is my love and passion for the sanatorium building and the vast dynamic history behind it. I began this site actually
back in 2000, which was about 6 or 7 months before the Mattingly's had purchasesd the Property. This site is no longer
the official site as far as representing the Waverly Hills Historical Society, Inc. It has once again simply became
my personal site about Waverly. However, the history that I present to you is accurate to the best of my knowledge,
and if I find that small details might have some degree of inaccuracy, I will make changes as I find things out.
Sincerely, Ronald
Prologue:
My fascination with that old gothic style building
that sits on top of Waverly Hill began when I was only 9 years old. We had just come back to the states from Germany.
It was August of 1966. Mom and Dad has just purchased a nice new 1966 Dodge Dart. A sporty looking car it was,
and Dad would proudly drive us each week up to Dixie Manor Shopping Center to go looking and window shopping. Each time
we approached East Pages Lane, I was always elated when the traffic light would turn red. That would afford me about
a minute to stare with intrique at that ancient looking tower that I could see looming above the trees.
As we would start going through the light upon
turning green, I would continue to stare in amazement and wonderment at that tower until it would vanish out of the range
of my sight. For years I couldn't help but wonder what kind of a building it was, and what kind of people might
have lurked on the inside of its walls. That building looked like an ancient gothic castle, especially in the evening,
which made it look even more foreboding as the sun would go down.
One day, I finally asked Mom if she knew what
that building was used for. She told me that she had heard it was an insane asylum, and for me not to ever go up there
to take a look at it, for fear that something might happen to me. Well, I guess one could say that scare tactic worked
for a good number of years. However, in September of 1999, I just could not hold my curiousity back anymore. So,
I decided one Sunday to park my truck at a mobile home sales lot on Dixie, which I might add was right down at the bottom
of the hill.
As I walked up that winding road, I was getting
more anxious by the moment to at last get that breath taking look close up view of that mighty structure. When I finally
got to the top where I could see the building close up, I got the shock of my life. I could tell that the building had
indeed been closed for many years. All the windows had been smashed out! sections of the brick perimeter wall
around the roof had been torn down, vulgar grafitti was to be seen here and there around the foundation walls of the rear
side. Still, the building stood tall and proud, like a mighty fortress that had withstood the ravages of time.
I finally learned that this massive building was once a sanatorium hospital for treating those afflicted with tuberculosis.
In February of 2000, I began to do some historical
research on the place, as I was developing a strong passion to explore the past history about Waverly. Over the past
8 years, I have been very blessed and fortunate to have met several individuals personally, and through the internet
that were patients and/or employees of the Waverly Sanatorium back years ago when it was in operation. These people
have been kind enough to share photographs and past history of their experiences at the Waverly Sanatorium.
So, in summary, it is the history and photos
shared with me by these individuals and the personal research that I have done that I want to share with you on this site.
Sincerely, Ron
THIS SITE IS ACTUALLY STILL UNDER
CONSTRUCTION. I AM WORKING EVERY CHANCE I GET TO COMPLETE IT ASAP.
