Berkeley Springs State Park | |
---|---|
Location | Morgan, West Virginia, United States |
Coordinates | 39°37′36″N78°13′40″W / 39.62667°N 78.22778°W |
Area | 7 acres (2.8 ha) [1] |
Elevation | 617 ft (188 m) |
Established | July 1, 1970 [2] |
Website | wvstateparks |
Berkeley Springs State Park | |
Location | S. Washington and Fairfax Sts., Berkeley Springs, West Virginia |
Area | 5 acres (2.0 ha) |
Built | 1785 |
Built by | James Rumsey |
NRHP reference No. | 76001943 [3] |
Added to NRHP | May 24, 1976 |
Berkeley Springs State Park is a state park situated in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, United States. The centerpiece of the Park is its historic mineral spa. These waters were celebrated for their medicinal or restorative powers and were generally taken internally for digestive disorders, or bathed in for stress relief. Native Americans visited these springs as did George Washington. Berkeley Springs is the only state-run spa in the United States and is operated by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.
The park is located on land which has been used as a health resort since the 1750s as the property of Lord Fairfax. On 18 March 1748, George Washington, then 16, visited the spa for the first time. [4] An annual event is held to commemorate this historic visit, but the tub where Washington supposedly bathed was rebuilt in the 1930s. Colonial maps dating as early as 1740 credit medicinal properties to the springs' waters. [5]
The land was officially granted to Virginia in 1776. The town of Bath was incorporated that same year [4] (it was called Warm Springs before its incorporation [6] ).
The historic Roman Bathhouse, the oldest public building in Berkeley Springs, was built in Federal-style architecture in 1815 on the site of an earlier bathhouse attributed to James Rumsey. [7] The earlier bathhouse, built in 1784, is described as having had five bathing chambers and dressing rooms.
On 1 January 2019, the Old Roman Bathhouse building closed down for renovation (including handicap access, new bath tiles, bath benches, new boiler system) for a period of 6 months and a $1-million budget. [7]
Water flows from natural mineral springs at a constant temperature of 74.3 degrees, emerging from the Oriskany (Ridgeley) sandstone of Warm Springs Ridge. Five major springs merge on the location of the spa. The water contains significant amounts of sulfates, nitrates, and carbonates—mostly magnesium carbonates. The discharge varies from 750 to 2,000 US gallons (2,800 to 7,600 L) per minute. [6]
The water is available for bathing at two park bathhouses and for drinking from a fountain at the 19th century Gentlemen's Spring House — as well as from every tap in town since the springs serve as the source of the municipal water supply. The current bathhouse includes nine separate bathing chambers with tubs capable of holding a total 750 gallons of water heated to 102 degrees. These baths are open to the public daily throughout the year and water is also bottled and sold commercially.
The town is also the organizer of the annual Berkeley Springs’ International Water Tasting Competition. [6]
The Museum of the Berkeley Springs is located on the second floor of the bathhouse. Established in 1984, it exhibits various historical items of natural and cultural significance to the springs and town. Admission is free, and the museum is open at least on weekends from March through December.
The waters that leak directly from the spring are home to an introduced population of guppies that date to around the early 1940s. [8] Originally from South America, they are able to survive throughout the year due to the constantly warm waters that outflow from the spring.
Several other species of fish make their way up from Warm Spring Run into the hot spring itself. These fish include eastern blacknose dace, creek chub, central stoneroller, and bluntnose and cutlips minnows. [9] There are also crayfish in the spring, and water snakes are seen occasionally as well.
Berkeley Springs State Park is a location in Fallout 76, as Berkeley Springs West [10]
Bath may refer to:
Morgan County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,063. Its county seat is Berkeley Springs. The county was formed in 1820 from parts of Hampshire and Berkeley Counties and named in honor of General Daniel Morgan, prominent soldier of the American Revolutionary War. The county and town of Bath are considered excellent jumping-off points for exploring the Potomac and Cacapon Rivers just to the north and west, respectively. Also, the county is a tourist destination hosting numerous local artists, mineral water spas, and a large amount of outdoor recreation that includes fishing, boating, wildlife, hunting, and mountain scenery. The region is known for the famed Apple Butter Festival held annually in October. Morgan County is also the home of an important silica mine, part of U.S. Silica.
A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa. Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits.
Berkeley Springs is a town in, and the county seat of, Morgan County, West Virginia, United States, in the state's eastern panhandle. Berkeley Springs is also commonly used to refer to the area in and around the Town of Bath. In 1776, the Virginia Legislature incorporated a town around the springs and named it Bath. Since 1802, it has been referred to by the name of its original post office, Berkeley Springs. The population was 758 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Hagerstown–Martinsburg metropolitan area.
Bathing is the immersion of the body, wholly or partially, in a medium, usually water or heated air. It is most commonly practised as the cleansing component of personal hygiene, as a religious ritual, medically as hydrotherapy, or as a leisure activity.
Hot Springs National Park is a national park of the United States in central Garland County, Arkansas, adjacent to the city of Hot Springs. Hot Springs Reservation was initially created by an act of the United States Congress on April 20, 1832, to be preserved for future recreation. Established before the concept of a national park existed, it was the first time that land had been set aside by the federal government to preserve its use as an area for recreation. The hot spring water has been popularly believed for centuries to possess medicinal properties, and was a subject of legend among several Native American tribes. Following federal protection in 1832, the city developed into a successful spa town.
Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other criteria.
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are especially widespread in Europe and Japan. Day spas and medspas are also quite popular, and offer various personal care treatments.
Steamboat Springs is a small volcanic field of rhyolitic lava domes and flows in western Nevada, located south of Reno. There is extensive geothermal activity in the area, including numerous hot springs, steam vents, and fumaroles. The residential portions of this area, located mostly east of Steamboat Creek and south of modern-day SR 341, are now known simply as Steamboat.
Minnehaha Springs is an unincorporated community located in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, United States. It was named for the fictional Native American "princess," Minnehaha, and the mineral springs on the Lockridge farm. It is the only community with this name in the United States. On the site of what is now Camp Twin Creeks warm mineral springs can still be found.
Tskaltubo or Tsqaltubo is a spa resort in west-central Georgia. It is the main town of the Tsqaltubo Municipality of the Imereti province. It is known for its radon-carbonate mineral springs, whose natural temperature of 33–35 °C (91–95 °F) enables the water to be used without preliminary heating.
Mineral spas are spa resorts developed around naturally occurring mineral springs. Like seaside resorts, they are mainly used recreationally although they also figured prominently in prescientific medicine.
Hévíz is a spa town in Zala County, Hungary, about 8 kilometres from the city of Keszthely.
Bathing played a major part in ancient Roman culture and society. It was one of the most common daily activities and was practised across a wide variety of social classes. Though many contemporary cultures see bathing as a very private activity conducted in the home, bathing in Rome was a communal activity. While the extremely wealthy could afford bathing facilities in their homes, private baths were very uncommon, and most people bathed in the communal baths (thermae). In some ways, these resembled modern-day destination spas as there were facilities for a variety of activities from exercising to sunbathing to swimming and massage.
Bathhouse Row is a collection of bathhouses, associated buildings, and gardens located at Hot Springs National Park in the city of Hot Springs, Arkansas. The bathhouses were included in 1832 when the Federal Government took over four parcels of land to preserve 47 natural hot springs, their mineral waters which lack the sulphur odor of most hot springs, and their area of origin on the lower slopes of Hot Springs Mountain.
Highland Springs is a set of springs which was turned into a resort in the 19th century in Lake County, California. The resort grew to be able to accommodate 200 people, attracted by the curative powers of the mineral waters and the lovely mountain scenery. In the 1920s its popularity waned, the hotel was partly burned, and it passed through various hands before the county claimed eminent domain, bought the property, and flooded it with the Highland Springs Reservoir. The reservoir is surrounded by the Highland Springs Recreation Area, managed by the county.
The Warm Springs Pools are two spa structures near Warm Springs, Virginia. The name was changed in the 20th century from "Warm Spring Pools" to "Jefferson Pools" before being returned to its original name in 2021. The spa is part of The Homestead, a resort hotel in nearby Hot Springs.
Bimini Baths was a geothermal mineral water public bathhouse and plunge in what is now Koreatown, Los Angeles, California, US. It was situated just west of downtown, near Third Street and Vermont Avenue. Bimini Baths contained a natatorium, swimming pools, swimming plunge, Turkish baths, a medical treatment department, and bottling works.
Truth or Consequences Hot Springs is a thermal spring system located in the Hot Springs Artesian Basin area of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico in Sierra County.
Camas Hot Springs, also known as Big Medicine Hot Springs, is a group of historic hot springs in Hot Springs, Sanders County, Montana, United States.