Berkeley Springs West Virginia: America's Historical Spa Town

For centuries, mineral water has drawn travelers to the narrow valley of Berkeley Springs where the warm mineral waters flow from five major springs and numerous small springs. Here, where George Washington established the nation’s first spa, the water flows from the ground at 74.3 degrees Fahrenheit and is filled with sulphates, nitrates and carbonates.

First noted as Medicine Springs in 1747 on a map drawn by Thomas Jefferson's father, Berkeley Springs was visited by 16-year-old Washington who came in 1748 to survey the frontier region. Berkeley Springs was established as The Town of Bath in 1776, creating America’s first public spa. In the law establishing the town in December 1776, the Virginia Legislature included the statement that the water shall remain free for the public. The law has remained, but the name “Bath” is used only on paper. The name “Berkeley Springs” has dominated instead, in honor of the mineral springs and spas in the area. Berkeley Springs remains, to this day, a quiet, friendly haven of healing and art, surrounded by West Virginia's splendid scenery.

During the final half of the 18th century, the settlement around the springs grew from a little bush village to a fashionable watering spot. By the close of the 18th century, Bath was reputedly America's premier spa, prescribed by noted physicians and visited by rich Virginia planters and merchants. Those seeking cures in the mountain spas were often outnumbered by gamblers, troupes of actors, mothers seeking to marry off daughters and bachelors looking over the prospects.