Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, is a quaint historic spa town on U.S. Route 522 that I drive through periodically on my trip from Charlottesville, Virginia to my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The area of Berkeley Springs was occupied by Native Americans who knew of the healing properties of the warm mineral waters located there. Unfortunately, like so many other colonial spa locations, the Native Americans were pushed off their lands when spa waters became known to the colonists. Berkeley Springs is touted as “America’s First Spa” on the town’s signage. The only practical way to get there is by car since passenger rail service ended in 1935.
In 1747, Thomas Jefferson’s father mapped the area and named it Medicine Springs. The following year, a 16-year old George Washington was part of a team sent to survey the area for Lord Fairfax of Cameron who allegedly had a checkered past with female slaves. It was interesting to note that Lord Fairfax was born in Leeds Castle in Kent, England. A beautiful castle that I visited a few decades ago.
In 1776, George Washington and others mapped out prospective town plots, streets with names, and bestowed the name “The Town of Bath” after the English city of Bath. The use of spas is known as balneotherapy, from the Latin balneum (bath). Later the name was changed to Berkeley Springs since naming conventions at the time named spa / mineral spring towns after the county in which they were located. At the time, the county was named Berkeley after the colonial governor of Virginia, since West Virginia was part of Virginia at the time.
After the Revolutionary War, the population grew rapidly as injured soldiers were drawn to the area in the hopes of cure or relief from the warm mineral waters. Also, resort seekers came to the town which drew the wrath of religious leaders who attached a “seat of sin” label to the area because they gambled at cards, had horse races and held twice a week dances there. The town was also known to have scheduled fights on market day that were refereed by a man name Bruiser, and mothers who brought their daughters their in hopes of finding a socially prominent mate, and many bachelors who came to look over the female prospects.
Today, Berkeley Springs is the Morgan County, West Virginia county seat and still has a number of full service spas and many hotels, B&B’s and inns. Art and antique galleries are plentiful, and on the number of times I have visited, the town was rather quiet and devoid of the crowds and high end merchandise stores you see at many European spas. The town was listed as one of the 100 Best Art Towns in America.
It is an easy going pleasant experience to stroll the park and plop onto one of the wooden benches to people watch. In the middle of town is the “Town of Bath Historic District” with over 200 buildings including the repurposed Train Depot. Also in the middle of town is the “Berkeley Springs National Park” which is one of the smallest national parks in the country and includes mineral springs, a bath used by George Washington, and the Old Roman and main bath houses in the town. Seems the Ladies got the much smaller of the spring houses. I believe I could have captured the entire national park in one photograph.
Town stores are pretty much clustered along a few blocks of Route 522 with an old time movie theater, shops like the amusing Naked Olive, a few wall murals and the Morgan County Courthouse. Besides spa therapy and very good dining options, there a number of activities and attractions for visitors.
Cacapon Resort State Park is 10 miles away and encompasses 6,000 acres with activities such as hiking, fishing, swimming, biking and golf. I took one afternoon on my way back home to stop and play 18 holes at the beautiful but challenging Cacapon Course. In town there is a museum with art and antique shops aplenty. Just outside of town is a photo op with the U.S. Silica company train.
Berkeley Springs also hosts an annual Apple Butter Festival with a parade in October and also is host to the annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting competition. The water tasting event was covered last year in a TravelGumbo story by Stephanie Kalina-Metzger. An easy 100 mile drive from Washington DC or Baltimore, Maryland, makes this a peaceful, relaxing weekend getaway.
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