Tranquille Sanatorium near Kamloops is said to be one of the most haunted places in Canada. Once a hospital treating tuberculosis, later a place for the mentally ill has a history filled with mystery, tragedy, and an eerie atmosphere that still lingers to this day. Visitors report spooky sightings of ghostly figures wandering the grounds and warning whispers in dark corridors.

Is there something more haunting and creates a more scary atmosphere than the now abandoned sanatoriums that exist around the world? Canada’s historic Tranquille Sanatorium near Kamloops (Tk’emlúps) in British Colombia hides many secrets of its past, including a host of creepy sightings and paranormal activity. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Canada

Located not far from Kamloops in British Columbia, the Tranquille Sanatorium opened its doors back in 1907. By 1910, the hospital was able to accommodate almost 50 patients, 4 nurses, and 12 attendants. By 1932, the Tranquille Sanatorium was able to house over 600 patients and staff and was operating as a fully functioning and self-sustaining community. 

Tranquille Sanatorium around 1920

Originally designed to treat tuberculosis known as the white plague back in the days, the Tranquille Sanatorium hospitalized thousands of people over the years. The facility was called the King Edward VII Sanatorium. The community built around the facility had gardens, houses, a gymnasium, a farm, a fire department as well as recreational areas such as an auditorium, a cafeteria, a laundry mat and tennis courts. It even had a school for handicapped children named “Stsmemelt Village” and a community and life grew around the sanatorium outside the hospital as well.

In 1958, the hospital closed and was reopened in 1959 to treat the mentally ill until the late 80s. In September 1991, an Italian developer, Giovanni Camporese, the president of A&A Foods, bought the land to turn it into a resort and renamed it “Padova City” from his hometown. There have been many plans to demolish it, but is for now an abandoned and derelict building and a farming community around. 

Many did not survive their stay in this haunted building as the white plague once was the single biggest killer in Canada, and its tragic history has added to its eerie reputation. 

Tranquille Sanatorium: A former TB hospital near Kamloops, with plans to become a sustainable community. Here from 2014. // Source

Paranormal Activity at Tranquille Sanatorium

Although the place is closed off as it is private property, you can still visit to participate in their historic tours. It is said that both visitors and staff at Tranquille Sanatorium have reported a wide range of paranormal occurrences like strange sightings and ghostly images. Moans and groans that from disembodied voices ring through the location and others have even reported seeing apparitions wandering the grounds. Some visitors have even reported feeling like they were being watched or followed by something unseen in the shadows.

One of the more retold rumours is about seeing light orbs and faint floating lights traveling in circles. This is especially reported on happening around the main entrance. Apparently, lights in the sanatorium also go on and off by themselves.

But what or who is behind the haunting rumours? According to the stories, these paranormal occurrences are linked to the dark history of Tranquille Sanatorium and those who lost their lives here as patients are still lingering. 

There are not many names and specific ghosts connected to this place, but they are certainly active, and sometimes even violent. Visitors report a figure pushing past them before disappearing and one even claimed to have been chased out of the hospital by a mist looking like the silhouette of a human. The spirit of a nurse who was supposedly murdered by a patient can be seen in several of the rooms have also made its rounds as a haunted legend. 

The Mother’s Cries on the Eight Floor

Although the stories from the haunted Tranquille Sanatorium can be very vague, there are some rumors that seem to echo through many sources. 

The sounds of children crying can be heard coming from the 8th floor, an area where pediatrics used to be. This is also a place where many people talk about seeing the mysterious orbs that have been observed throughout the sanatorium grounds. They have also claimed to have heard the voices of ghostly children playing in the abandoned children’s ward. 

Another ghost said to appear in these rooms is a female ghost believed to be a mother to one of the children. She can be heard crying for her child and even seen on both the eight as well as the sixth floor. When those seeing her approach her though, she vanishes into thin air. 

The Haunted Tunnels Below

The most haunted place though it is said to be the tunnels that have been dug out underneath the sunken gardens. Not only were these tunnels used to transport food and supplies into the sanatorium, they were also used to transport the dead bodies of the patients to the cemetery. Although it sounds dark, it was actually to spare the living patients the distress of seeing others succumbing to the illness they were battling with themselves. By using the tunnels, the staff would be able to discreetly transport them without anyone seeing it. 

Could these tunnels be haunted now? Throughout the decades, local teenagers have used these tunnels as a hang out and party place, and many of the haunted rumours come from this period.  There are reports that the tunnels below are filled with lonely voices and cries. 

The Ancestral Burial Site

It is not only the dark history of the sanatorium that has made people think it is haunted. Tranquille is a particularly active area when it comes to First Nations history. This land west of Tk’emlúps which is Secwépemctsín for “where the rivers meet”  is also the site of a major Secwépemc settlement dating back thousands of years. The Secwepemc used the area around Tranquille Sanatorium as a fishing and hunting settlement before the first colonists took over the area. Their ancestral burial sites and gravel pits have been found under the structures of the sanatorium. 

Source

The same location that was once Tranquille Sanatorium is now known as Tranquille Farm Fresh, which offers escape rooms and heritage tours, often connected to the haunted rumours for Halloween. For now, further development of the place remains in a place of limbo, where private development, agricultural needs as well as First People rights is trapped in a crossroad. 

Ghost Hunting in the Sanatorium

But is it really haunted? Several blogs have recounted their own experiences of partying and fuelling the haunted rumours with playing and pranking, pretending to be the ghosts. A lot of the modern takes on the haunted sanatorium actually comes from the MTV Show “MTV Fear” that aired from 2000 to 2002. Contestants are blindfolded and led by guides to the supposedly haunted area. Once night arrives, a computer terminal will usually pick one or two colors and assign a dare. This computer also provides the group with background information about the area. Tranquille Sanatorium was chosen as a location in episode 5 of season 2. 

Some teenagers remember the time they were paid in pizza to act as the ghosts rumored to haunt the place. The show had perhaps even created several unique characters that were unknown to everyone before airing the show. They had for instance the wife of one of the doctors, Ellison, who was consumed by tuberculosis haunting the place, and the ghost of the Pig Man as well. 

Question is: Did the show create the haunted rumors, or did the haunted rumors just inspire the show? 

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References:

The buried history of Tranquille 

Tranquille: A Timeline 

Vanishing B.C. Tranquille – Kamloops 

The deep, dark and mysterious history of Tranquille Sanatorium and psychiatric institution | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan’s News Source

Sanatorium near Kamloops one of Canada’s most haunted places – Vancouver Is Awesome

Is Tranquille the victim of wild imaginations? – The Superstitious Times