Wildwood Sanitarium
Do paranormal patients and phantom physicians still roam the halls of this old New York sanitarium?
Paranormal Claims at
Wildwood Sanitarium
- Pendulums in certain rooms are moved by unseen forces
- Shadow figures have been spotted around the building
- Motion sensor activity has been noted in Linda’s room
- Balls placed on the floor have been rolled by unseen hands
- Doors in the building open and close mysteriously
- Disembodied voices have been heard
- EVPs have been recorded by investigators
- Some visitors report phantom scratches
Wildwood Sanitarium’s
History of Health
Old asylums and sanitariums usually have a certain look to them, known for beckoning ghost hunters in with their intimidating darkness. But sometimes, haunted hospitals can hide in plain sight, tucked right into quiet residential neighborhoods.
And you can find one of those hidden haunts in the sleepy New York town of Salamanca.
Wildwood Sanitarium once treated patients during one of the nation’s many tuberculosis epidemics. Beyond TB, Wildwood operated as a healthcare facility for much of the early 1900s.
Though few physical signs of Wildwood’s medical past remain, New York legend says the sanitarium keeps a few spiritual signs of its history. Now, paranormal researchers can experience Wildwood Sanitarium’s ghost stories for themselves.
Timeline of Wildwood Sanitarium's History
Swipe or use timeline points to see Wildwood Sanitarium through the years
1900
In 1900, the stone facade of a new house sprouted up in small-town Salamanca, New York. Just a few years after the large stone house came to life, Doctors John Henderson and Carol Perry bought it for their private medical practice. After several years of their own refurbishments, Drs. Henderson and Perry opened up the house as their own holistic medicine hospital. The two found quick success offering light therapy, hot baths, and early electro-therapy.
1923
While not developed with sanitarium-level care in mind, the need soon came to Salamanca. In the early 1920s, an epidemic of tuberculosis swept through the nation, and the state quickly mandated Henderson and Perry’s hospital convert to TB care. Wildwood completed the transition in 1923. For the rest of Henderson and Perry’s time running Wildwood Sanitarium, it would focus on these unfortunate tuberculosis cases.
1941
Both Dr. Henderson and Dr. Perry died in 1941 and Dr. Henderson’s family owned Wildwood Sanitarium until 1946. With tuberculosis quickly becoming treatable, there was no local need for the hospital building anymore. In the 1950s, the old sanitarium was converted into apartments. It spent several decades as an apartment building before falling into disrepair as the 21st century dawned. To many, the stony facade’s past as a healthcare center was lost to renovations and alterations over the years.
2017
In 2017, the Wagatha family purchased the old building and began a long, slow restoration process. The old structure, reverted back to the name Wildwood Sanitarium, is now open to tours. Much of the building’s medical past has been erased, but local lore says ghosts of the sanitarium era remain within. With Wildwood’s offering of tours and events all focusing on its paranormal lore, one question remains. What kind of spirits haunt this quiet corner of Salamanca?
Is Wildwood Sanitarium Haunted?
Through ghost hunts performed at Wildwood Sanitarium in recent years, several paranormal hotspot rooms have been identified.
One room, Tommy’s Room, is said to be inhabited by the ghost of a young boy who once resided in the sanitarium. Tommy’s Room is well-known for child-sized shadow figures and distant, disembodied voices.
Another purportedly haunted room at Wildwood Sanitarium is Linda’s Room. Linda is said to be the phantom of another sanitarium patient, but not a TB case. Rather, she was a burn victim who Henderson & Perry once treated.
A regular report from Linda’s Room is motion detection equipment and REM-Pods going off without known cause.
Wildwood’s Wandering Wraiths
While some specters like to keep to their namesake bedrooms, others apparently like to roam through Wildwood Sanitarium. Shadow figures, big and small, can be spotted lingering in the halls at all times of day.
Doors in the sanitarium are infamous for being pushed open and pulled closed by unseen hands. Wildwood Sanitarium’s ghosts are also known to roll balls up and down the building’s halls. Many ghost hunters now bring balls with them on their visits, hoping to witness this activity for themselves.
Speak To Ghosts At This New York Sanitarium
Ghosts in Wildwood Sanitarium are apparently no strangers to spiritual communication. Disembodied voices are commonly heard throughout the building at all times of the day. Plenty of investigators have claimed to capture EVP recordings of these ghost voices during their tours.
Beyond that, the spirits at Wildwood are known for communicating through specialized ghost hunting tools, like Spirit Boxes. A pendulum kept in the building is also known for its unexplainable movements. The pendulum is often used by visitors as a communication tool, with some witnesses saying it will never fully stop moving or changing direction.
Scratches & Spooky Vibes
Most of Wildwood’s ghosts are said to be kind and helpful, but not every paranormal encounter there is nice. Self-described sensitives and psychics sometimes claim to feel an uneasy or unwelcoming energy in some areas of the sanitarium.
In rare instances, visitors have noted unexplainable scratches appearing on them during and after their tours. To date, no one knows who this unfriendly ghost is, but they’re likely to be the most wild encounter Wildwood has to offer.
Get Spooked at Wildwood Sanitarium
Wildwood Sanitarium’s path toward total restoration is long, and the work is ongoing still today. Both paranormal tours and private ghost hunts play a major role in supporting the historic hospital’s slow revival. You can book everything from a simple, daytime history tour to a full, private, all-night ghost hunt.
It’s up to you, and how scared you want to be!
Ongoing visits from ghost hunting teams, as well as appearances on paranormal shows like Nick Groff’s Paranormal Lockdown, have popularized Wildwood Sanitarium’s litany of ghost stories in recent years. The building is quickly becoming known as one of the Empire State’s eeriest places.
It might not be an endlessly sprawling asylum complex, but Wildwood Sanitarium may sport even more spirits-per-square-inch than the biggest old hospital you can think of.
