13 Haunted Locations In Louisville, Kentucky (VWS Edition)

0:01 Way, what's up everybody? Welcome to Bibin' with Sleezy the podcast. This is season seven, episode ten. I want to thank everybody for listening, tuning, and downloading. It's been a great season so far. Done some solo episodes and had some great guests. Um season keeps rolling on. So uh part one of this series, I did uh eight uh Louisville, Kentucky ghost stories and urban legends. And for this part two, uh kind of basically doing this as episode nine and ten, but I want to release them both at the same time. I'm doing 13 haunted locations in Louisville, Kentucky. So love doing these solo episodes on history, mysteries, legends, and so really thought I'd dive deep on this.

0:46 Um shout out to Leo Weekly, uh the paper I used to work for. Sydney Cantina did a great piece back in 2024. So using some of her data, my own personal experiences, and really want to bring this uh episode to you with some uh fun stories. So overall, that first episode, um that part one there for episode nine, we uh we, you know, I touched on a lot of uh places there of those eight places. So a couple might pop up again in this episode. However, I'm gonna try to give you a little more details on each story. So the first place I wanna, and again, there's way more haunted places than 13 in Louisville, Kentucky.

1:31 Um, from all this research uh that I did, um, looking up, these are just 13 great places to list. Um, the rest of the places, um, I'll try to at the end of the episode give some honorable mentions, but um, you know, you do your research out there, you're gonna find it definitely in this city, uh city with so much history. So the first place I want to discuss in this episode is Cave Hill Cemetery at 701 Baxter Avenue. Cave Hill is the home to Colonel Sanders, Muhammad Ali's grave. Uh Cave Hill is a beautiful cemetery. I brought people there. When the gates close, it's a little bit spookier. And uh next door to it is Eastern Cemetery, which has a lot of sad history, a lot of mass burial, unmarked graves.

2:16 So if you can volunteer for the Eastern Cemetery to help out, they have like a Friends of Eastern Cemetery Association cutting the grass and you know doing lawn work, so just to keep that preserved. But yeah, the a lot of cemeteries in Louva, but those two uh definitely are the most famous. Uh Eastern for all the tragic history, and then Cave Hill just because it seems like so many people have been buried there from this city. I mean, over a hundred thousand graves are in that site. Um, you're sitting on a 296-acre cemetery, and you know what people really see is uh that a woman appears to take care of the graves, and many children buried there where you'll see green orbs over those graves.

3:02 People also have heard voices, uh people have heard very cold winds come through the cemetery, and it gives you that uh that that spooky paranormal feel. Um Cave Hill's been around for so long, and I remember Cave Hill got such a big focus when Muhammad Ali died. And when you go in there, it's it's unique. Uh Muhammad Ali has a beautiful uh grave and it's very well done, and some people lay pennies there on it. And then when you go to Colonel Sanders, it actually has his his head, like a miniature thing of his head, his face. And I've seen a lot of people from out of town visit the Colonel Sanders grave when I've been driving through Cave Hill.

3:42 So very interesting. But yeah, check that out in the heart of the highlands of all places. But uh it's it's there, it's beautiful, and uh you can see it too while you're driving down on Grinstead. A place I'm gonna mention too that was already in that part one, that episode nine there. Uh Poplik, uh the the trestles, um, where Goatman lives, or the Popelick monster, you want to call it. That is actually in Fisherville. It's between J Town and Taylorsville as you're heading down there, and you'll see on your left if you're heading into Spencer County, and you'll see it on your right if you're heading back to Jefferson County. And uh I've sat underneath the trestles.

4:22 Um, a lot of people say that the goat man fell off a circus train. A lot of people say it's just this half sheep, half goat. Uh, it's killed people. There's been couples on dates, supposedly Boy Scout troops have been tortured. There's just been a lot of like urban legends, crazy stories. They say if you're up on the trestles and that train's coming, number one, it's bad luck to see it, but number two, it's hard to kind of escape it. Uh, people have seen many houses up there where like maybe they would have stored like kind of like a cabin in the woods vibe. But that whole area is really haunted. There was like a haunted house and like farm there. Um, there was a death on a soccer field close by, and then there's a lot of Satan worshiping that has happened in that area where people have discussed it.

5:08 Now they do a public monster like festival. Um, my friend, shout out to Whitney Yadon. She'll actually be on a future episode here this season, and we'll discuss it more. She's discussed it in the past on episodes, but uh, she's an artist and she makes felt goat man, and uh they're very popular, and it's it's been going on for a few years, and so check it out. Look up the history, but this is probably the biggest one from my childhood because besides Waverly Hills, everyone talked about the Pop Lick Monster, Goat Man. I mean, it was always very, very well discussed and uh very, very uh common to hear that, especially in J Town where I was born and raised.

5:54 The next one I want to discuss is the witches tree. And the witches tree is at um you know 6th Street and Park Avenue. It's right there on the northwest corner, and you can literally see Central Park standing at the tree. I won't ever touch it. I also discussed this in part one. You know, the the history on it is some witches cursed it when they tried to make a maypole out of the tree site, and the witches fled to the west end, and they cursed the city of Louisville, pretty much like 11th Street onto the earlier streets. And uh basically that witch's tree still has gifts, still people worshiping a big historic thing. It looks nothing like any of the trees in the Louisville, Kentucky area.

6:37 So when you are by the tree, you're very shocked to see it, and you're very shocked that a tree looks like that of some sort, but supposedly still haunted, and it takes over all the roots there. And basically, they're saying this tree looks the way it looks because the witch's curse and that lightning strike that came down to that site, uh, you know, to hit that where the tree's at. So very, very interesting. Uh, definitely check that out. It's uh very, very eerie when you're by there. So I've brought a lot of people there. I've had some friends that have literally like hugged it. I mean, it's just people kind of embrace it all in their own particular way, but uh definitely is a place that's very popular during Halloween time.

7:24 Um, another place that I'm very familiar with is the former Sweet Surrendas now, or excuse me, Sweet Surrender now is Bayes Bakery, which is located 1804 Frankfurt Avenue. That's there in the Clifton area, it's right in the heart of Clifton. Uh, that area in general is very haunted. Um, tons of history was there. Uh it's been more developed over the past 15 years, but now it's it's kind of one of the big drinking food spots, but also kind of like a little historic cut-through. Um, that whole area kind of leading up to River Road is historic in general. But I've been in there a lot. They're a former client.

8:04 They did stuff with me at when I worked at Leo Weekly and helped with events. And shout out to my friend Daniel Marie, who worked there for several years. I also have worked with her at other places. Um, she's mentioned it. So is the former owner Jessica Haskell, who owns Sweet Surrender, have mentioned how they would see people, see a woman with curly hair, see people through the mirrors. And you always wondered why Bum and Bay's bakery have such particular hours. And sometimes you wonder if it has to do with the haunted history there and if there's any interference from the ghosts. But definitely a good place to get a bakery item. Uh, also some good little shops around there and bars, and you know, you could you can have a good time, you know.

8:48 Uh it's just a very interesting place. But overall, have not really learned if Bayes Bakery was having the same experiences at Sweet Surrender as Sweet Surrender was having there. But I think they probably are because uh place we'll mention in our list is a closed-down bar, an old kind of firehouse place, silver dollar. It's a uh very haunted place as well. So that whole little square there has got a lot of history. Place we're going to talk about is the Bell of Louisville. So that is a steamboat. That is our most historic steamboat. It is located at 401 West River Road. The oldest pumping station in North America is right next to the Bell of Louisville.

9:32 And so with the Bell of Louisville, I rode on it in high school. I was class of 2008. We took our whole senior trip down in the boat. Um, a lot of schools did that. It's super cool. I've never had any history there, like from the standpoint of seeing ghosts or haunted stuff, but I've been there when it's been docked, I've been there when it's undocked. I've actually took the German girls that came and visited me, and we went down and checked out the boat. It just has so much cool history. It's a great boat ride. It's something you can do to this day. Uh, they do dinner cruises, they do all kinds of things. Uh, it's actually a uh a job now for some people that they'll work there through Metro. But when you ride down the uh river, um, you know, it just it's just great, especially being on a steamboat.

10:19 Um, they do race the Cincinnati uh ship uh during the the great steamboat races during Derby leading up, and this is April, so we're in the heart of Derby season. Uh Derby will be here before we know it. Uh the Kentucky Derby actually um first Saturday in May. I mean, it it's crazy to think that it's only a month out from that derby. Uh last year, you know, it felt like Derby was here and it flew by so quickly. Churchill Downs is a little controversy right now because of uh betting. Uh they had some fees they had to pay, fines for safety regulations, and you know, it might affect online betting.

11:01 So Churchill Downs, you know, they are huge here in Louisville, and I've I've gone to Churchill Downs my whole life and they own tons of racetracks, but not always doing the best business practices. I know some people there that are good people, but uh they they need to definitely do some uh, you know, make sure things are safer there at Churchill Downs, and hopefully things are going according to the plan for everybody that's involved. But back to the Bell Louisville. Um, so the story, you know, Captain Ben Winter is a former captain. He suffered a fatal heart attack on board. His spirit is said to linger on the steamboat, overseeing the vessel he once commanded. It said the boat is haunted by former crew members too.

11:43 One crew member was crushed to death when machinery was accidentally activated on the boat, and another met a similar fate when the paddle wheel unexpectedly started on its own and killed him. So, very crazy that there has been those deaths. And when you're on the Belloval, you get that historic feel, and you definitely can sense, you know, that boat has seen some things. So it's crazy to have that. And, you know, but you know, I think with Captain Ben Winters, he took so much pride in that uh in that ship that I think he's looking out for it in a good way. Uh the Sealbach Hotel, uh, it has such a great gas be feel. Al Capone has stayed there.

12:23 He gave a mirror once in the uh bar there, and he would use it to see if cops and people were coming in like enemies, and he'd flee. And Louisville has tunnels all over downtown Louisville. There's tunnels all through underground. I've been in them. They can take you all the way to the river. So he would flee down the river to get on the boat and head out of town. But he did a lot of business here in Louisville. Sealbock Hotel was beautiful. People love the Sealbach. Uh, it's definitely a huge tourist attraction. Um, definitely a place too for locals to have events. I actually went uh with Harbor House, they did a great Gatsby themed event there, which was super cool. And they have a speakeasy in the basement.

13:06 Uh, a lot of just cool stuff has happened there. That whole little block is historic. It's close to Four Street Live, which is used to be the old galleria. Um, the dry goods store there, CVS, it's been seen on stripes, uh, right there, that little corner. And uh, you know, there was tons of old buildings around there. I used to rent an apartment there. I actually talked about this on the Chris and Murray episode that was an old department store, and it had the old wooden elevators and floors. So everything down there is a lot of history. So the Sealbot, it was actually built in 1905. It was huge, huge, uh elegant hotel.

13:47 You know, Otto and Louis Sealbach, the Bavarian brothers, helped build it. Uh, you know, some people say it did influence the Great Gatsby. Uh, known for its stunning French Renaissance architecture, it's had countless guests over the years. And the lady in blue, Patricia Wilson, is the one that haunts it. Uh, she got a call that her husband, who she was waiting for, died in route to the hotel. And grief-stricken, she was found at the bottom of the elevator shaft. And the circumstances are kind of a mystery there if she jumped or let it crush her or what. But since then, guests have reported seeing the sightings of the woman in blue with the long dark hair wandering the hotel hall, seemingly waiting for her husband to arrive.

14:28 The legend of the lady in blue adds a uh eerie allure to the sealbox, making it a captivating destination for both history and ghost likes. And I would just recommend going there. It's a great place to check out. And a lot of these places, I'm telling you, are free places or places you can just go check out or even drive the exterior, and you can do it almost in a uh giant 30-man loop. Another place I'm gonna talk about, and I'll go in a little bit more detail the story than I did in that part one, episode nine, but the lady of the stairs, 1305 Sound Third Street at that church. Um, the Lady of Stairs is no different as that young Miss G story that we'll show share uh there from Meta. But it was a young woman whose parents wanted her to have an arranged marriage with another large distilling family, but she was in love and had promised herself to a young soldier.

15:16 And when the young soldier was due to be discharged, he re-enlisted so that he would be stationed close to his love. While he was stationed near her at Camp Zachary Taylor, she knew that she could meet him at the church or nearby, which they did, as they made a plan to elope, and on the night they were supposed to meet, the young woman showed up with a small suitcase ready to leave with her love. He didn't show. She came back the next night again waiting on him and pacing, and yet another night he didn't show. This repeated itself a few nights and eventually she stopped coming, and he but unfortunately he had fallen ill and he died from the Spanish flu. Spanish flu was huge around then, and it was definitely killing lots of people, and then it followed suit with her. A lot of people say she died of a heartbreak, uh a broken heart, which is it could be true as well, but she still said to be seen pacing the stairs of the first church of Church of Christ Scientists waiting for her love.

16:08 So that place is a place you can see the exterior. I've been inside a couple times, it is very spooky, very eerie. Um, you know, I hope her soul eventually gets the rest and finds her love in the spirit world, but uh it seems like it's something where she spent so much time and she left so much of her heart that that spot must have meant so much to her soul. Uh so now we're gonna dive into Meta. So Meta is uh 425 West Chestnut Street. It's a very lively bar, it's been very popular. It used to be one of my Budweiser accounts I sold to. It was next to the Body Shop Strip Club, um, which was one of my accounts and a tattoo shop.

16:50 Uh there's been a lot of different businesses here and there. The body shop was definitely a uh cool account I had. They let me kind of design their strip club again. But at one time it was the show and tell lounge, and it was home to a ghostly presidents that Meta Bar was that basically a former dancer from the show and tell lounge once celebrated her new and her new portrait adorned the walls of the bar, and it was relocated to an office following the lounge's opening. The dancer enjoyed spending time by her painting until her life was cut short by a tragic murder at the hands of a customer. Since then, the owners and the staff reported unsettling feelings throughout the bar.

17:31 They've witnessed the apparition of a woman gliding through the back hallway only to banish when approached. Despite through searches, no living person has ever been found. The lingering presence of the dancer serves the honey remainder of the area. So with Meta having such a lively presence and a cool bar, it does have that spooky feel. And if you step out to the right of Meta, there used to be a pesto, an Ethiopian restaurant there, which were awesome. Budweiser accounts I had. They were great places. COVID hit them. But overall, that structure where Meta is and the former body shop that shut down, because strip clubs and Louisville just don't do as well anymore, besides, you know, your PTs and Godfathers, uh, because of you know strip club laws and stuff.

18:14 It that building, you know, has stayed abandoned, but very historic, very haunted, that little strip. And uh, you know, you definitely realize how much went down in that area back in the day because all that is that little area is tied together um with history. But yeah, meta, definitely a place check out, go grab a cocktail there. Now we're gonna circle back to that Clifton area. I mentioned it, the silver dollar. Uh that's 1761 Frankfurt Avenue. It's not open anymore. It's uh actually in one of the country's oldest firehouses. And the playful spirit that haunts the silver dollar is known as Kevin. Uh the ghostly figure is said to be lingering essence of a firefighter who tragically died in a blaze.

18:57 After his death, Kevin's body was meant to be brought back to the station for a final farewell, but a mix-up led to him being taken to the wrong firehouse. Now it seems Kevin has found a new home at the Silver Dollar where he delights in playing small pranks on the staff that used to work there. Employees reported unexplained occurrences like items mysteriously shifting positions and the sound of footsteps when Noah's around. Kevin Spirit adds a quirky touch to the bar's atmosphere, ensuring that patrons and staff alike can enjoy a drink alongside a ghost with a sense of humor. Very cool spot. Uh, definitely a place you can still see the exterior and you can see kind of the historic vibe of it. You can even look through the windows, a lot of stuff's still inside there.

19:37 Not sure why that place has not blown up again or why silver dollar didn't work. It was such a booming business. I know they had uh a couple situations that may have happened, but uh someone I feel like should take that over, and definitely because Clifton's such a booming area, it might also be a high price because it is in that historic spot, but that building's not going anywhere because Louisville definitely takes care of their historic spots. But again, this place is very close to all this history leading up to River Road, so you you never know how much you know was seen over time.

20:17 Another place is Sauerkraut Cave. Uh that is at EP Tom Sawyer Park. Tom Sawyer Park is off of Hursthorn. Um, you gotta go down, it's kind of like get off in that little Linden exit there, or you can get off and get in there off of uh Westport Road. But you you go to Tom Sawyer, it's a huge park. I've done events there. I actually floated in a cardboard boat there once for a project. I made the news, that was fucking awesome. But super cool park, great to explore, tons of deer, tons of cemeteries, but a lot of hauntings and a lot of stuff because it was close to that mental hospital that's still around there. And there's just been a lot of stuff that has happened there over time.

20:59 But overall, beautiful park, beautiful place to explore, and just a great place to really walk around and take it in. And they even have uh a very old facility. It's got like a pool, basketball courts, uh, I think like you know, like a community center area. So huge parking, uh great track, uh, softball, baseball fields. Um, but overall, very, very cool place. Um basically, sauerkraut cave, though, is a network of underground tunnels believed to connect to the mythical hollow earth. A theory that is earth is a shell with walls about 800 miles thick. In popular leasing popular regions, there are holes 1400 miles across.

21:40 Uh, that is from the Geophysical Institute, by the way. And named for its historical use in aging sauerkraut, the subterranean site holds a darker legacy, full of death and mystery. It lies beneath the infamous Lakeland Asylum for the insane, which face serious accusations of overcrowding and patient mistreatment. And the cave is rumored to have severed as an Escape route for inmates, but chilling tales also just suggest that bodies may have been buried within its death. Visitors have reported visions of spirits as well as ghostly voices echoing through the caverns. I have seen the cave. It's terrifying. I have not gone in. It's very blocked off now. And there is a lot of uh crazy stuff that you'll really witness and see in that area.

22:26 And um, you know, from a history standpoint, and you also have to realize these hospitals and asylums were horrible back in the day for mistreatment, you know, from Waverly to the place that got shut down in the 80s that I mentioned in part one on episode nine, and then uh this place above uh you know Tom Sawyer Park in the cave. Just a very, very uh dark history, you know. Be safe if you try to explore it. I know that they have a lot of cameras over there, and if you are looking for something to also see, tons of historic uh cemetery markers uh are deep in um Tom Sawyer Park in a uh little cut-through path. You kind of go walk through the woods, it's about like a sign.

23:08 They actually mark them so you can see them and you can go check those out. Um, the last two places that I want to talk about uh is first one is Buffalo Trace Distillery at 113 Great Buffalo Trace in Frankfurt, Kentucky, the capital of Kentucky. It is the Kentucky's oldest bourbon distillery. Buffalo Trace is said to be, and they say it's one of them, but uh deep down I believe it is uh may be the oldest bourbon distillery uh up there, and also is home of the biggest barrel in the world. Very, very cool. I've seen that, touched it. But um overall, this place, Buffalo Trace, is beautiful. Uh got like Buffalo course themed stuff, a Buffalo statue, and they just make very, very good bourbon, and it's great for the Frankfurt, Kentucky area, brings a lot of tourism there to the Capitol, which really only has the Capitol building and some historic spots.

24:03 Um, but overall, Buffalo Trace is said to be haunted by more than just spirits. The most famous ghost is Colonel Albert B. Bland, a former distillery president whose presence is still felt by employees and visitors alike. From aberrations and sudden scold spots to disembodied voices echoing through the halls, the distillery's spooky reputation caught the attention of the ghost hunters team in 2011. Every investigator on the sci-fi channel uh show on the team had a paranormal experience, making it one of their most chilling cases. Dating back to the 18th century, Buffalo trace sits on old Buffalo Crossing, and the distillery's long history means it's no surprise that a few characters might still linger. Sightings, accidents, and strangers' occurrence have all reported here.

24:45 According to Layers, it's already rich history. Ghost towards are available for the brave, offering a chance to catch a glimpse of the spirits that roam these historic grounds. So there could be uh demons, but there also could be historic spirits. You never know. But according with Buffalo Trace having that Buffalo Crossing, Buffalo crossings were huge, especially from Louisville to southern Indiana, and Frankfurt's about an hour away from Louisville, so it's still kind of close and ties into how much history the state of Kentucky has. I mean, the state of Kentucky dates back to the 1700s. And so the last spot we're going to talk about is the Brown Hotel, 335 West Broadway, Louisville. The Brown Hotel has a hotel, a bar and restaurant, and then the Brown Theater.

25:29 Very historic, very old. Tons of people have come here. Gives you that really historic vibe. Actually, stayed there uh back on the top floor and for Corey Williams. Shout out to him, his wedding. He had everybody stay there that night before, and we all went to the wedding the next day together, and we were partying, and we went down. I went actually down to the lobby to get more beer. And I get on the elevator, and as I'm riding up, it stops on the second floor. And a couple comes on. They look like they're from the Great Gatsby area. They're not even talking, they're not even saying that. I try to talk to them. They just stare at me. We ride up. It was very, very freaky. I was a little lit, but it was very scary. They get off on the floor right below our floor, and then I'm telling you, as soon as they took a left, they vanished.

26:15 I went out and peeked my head. Freaky. I know I saw a ghost. I told the group upstairs they thought I went crazy or I was drunk, but no, it was for real. I'll never forget that. And those Brown hotel elevators are very, very historic. But here's some history, a little bit about it. It's a luxurious four-star establishment founded by John Graham Brown. The hotel's namesake once resided on the 15th floor, which has since been converted to storage. However, it seems, and see, where we were staying was actually, I believe, like the 14th. We were on the top floor there. Uh however, it seems Mr. Brown never truly left his hotel. Staff frequently report strange happenings on the floor where disembodied footprints mysteriously appear on the dusty surface, and the sounds of furniture being rearranged echo through the stillness.

27:00 Guests they've even caught a whiff of faint cigar smoke, a nod to the founder's favorite pastime. To add to the intrigue, the hotel elevator has a particular kirk. So here we go about the uh elevator. It often stops at the 15th floor, seemingly compelled to pay a visit visit, regardless of its intended destination. The lingering presence of John Graham Brown assures that the Brown Hotel remains a place for history and the afterlife interwine. So very interesting to learn that because that elevator seemed like it took a path of its own when I was on it. And I feel like my story, which I've shared this story before with others, I feel like it really proves the history at the Brown Hotel. They were one of my accounts too. I was very lucky to sell beer in so many historic places around Louisville.

27:44 So the Brown Hotel, in my opinion, is top tier when it comes to history, especially where it's located. And you there's so many great pictures of it in the past, and it's just a beautiful spot. Uh, overall, with uh Louisville, uh, you know, PT Strip Club, another place when I was down in the basement, uh, you know, when I worked there and so beer, it it was super haunted. That building has a guy, looks like the Marlboro man in the back. It was like an old Felt factory, a lot of crazy stuff. Haymarket area, tons of history there, tons of people have seen ghosts. Um, you go into uh, you know, of course, Waverly Hills, which was on this list, hot, you know, probably most haunted place in America.

28:25 You got the old Kogay factory in Jerusalem, Indiana, which has a bigger cloth than Big Ben. Um, so overall, I could go on and on the history in Louisville and the haunted stuff, and it goes from you know 1st Street all the way to 48th Street. I mean, it it it it touches history was huge, you know. And you know, the thing that I always wonder is how much history and hauntings are from the amusement park that used to be, you know, Fountain Ferry down in the West End. And it's just it just overall it there's so much history, and then you learn more and more. I mean, I'll probably do more episodes than this type of stuff. Um, these two pieces that really got my brain triggering out of out of Leo Weekly, and then me doing my own research and me having my own personal experiences, I feel like this is great podcasting.

29:13 So, overall, this is season seven, episode ten. I want to thank everybody for listening to all the episodes and seasons and being a fan, and hopefully you've listened to these two partners, which I really appreciate. And uh BibleSleazy.com is the website, Bible Sleazy the Podcast, Facebook, Instagram. Thank you all. And uh more episodes coming as season seven rows on, and we are out. Peace.