Abandoned Maysville Hospital with Paranormal Reputation
4th Street (north end), Maysville, KY 41056
Age
All Ages (exterior viewing only)
Cost
Free
Free exterior viewing from public roads
Access
Limited Access
Urban street, exterior viewing
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1915 · Mason County's primary hospital 1923-1983 · Designed by Samuel Hannaford & Son of Cincinnati · Active federal-grant preservation project
The Hayswood Hospital site has roots stretching back to the early 1800s, when May Peale Wilson operated the Wilson Infirmary as Maysville's first hospital. After Wilson's death in 1908, construction began on a replacement facility. The new building opened in 1915 as Hayswood Seminary, and after Cincinnati architects Samuel Hannaford & Son designed a $45,000 addition in 1922, the facility was renamed Hayswood Hospital upon the addition's completion in 1923. The hospital was expanded again in 1925 and 1971, ultimately accommodating 87 patients. After the Simon Kenton Bridge opened in 1931, Hayswood served a large patient base from southwestern Ohio in addition to Kentucky's Mason County, earning national accreditation awards over the following decades. The Hospital Corporation of America acquired the facility in 1981 and renamed it Maysville Hospital, but the landlocked location proved untenable, and the hospital closed in 1983 when the newer Meadowview Regional Medical Center opened on the city's outskirts. Multiple attempts to redevelop the property into apartments stalled due to asbestos and underground fuel tank remediation costs. The City of Maysville and Frontier Housing have since secured a federal grant of approximately $2 million for hazardous-materials cleanup and redevelopment planning.
Sources
Local lore describes shadowy figures in the broken windows, the sound of crying newborns, and flashing lights observed in the morgue area. Passersby report a tall figure seen in the third-floor windows day and night, and visitors who entered the building before fencing was added described shadows, an old stretcher reportedly moving on its own, and the apparition of a woman carrying a newborn through the halls. A 2006 YouTube video purported to show a ghostly figure in an upper-floor window and remains disputed but widely circulated. Hayswood Hospital was featured on the Travel Channel's Ghost Asylum, and a 2009 paranormal documentary titled Hayswood was produced about the site. The building is now fenced and under active remediation; entry is prohibited.
Media Appearances
View the abandoned Hayswood Hospital from public sidewalks and streets in Maysville. The building is fenced and undergoing remediation; do not attempt to enter the property.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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