West Warm Springs is an unincorporated community in Bath County, Virginia, in the United States.
In 2021, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources dedicated a commemorative plaque recognizing West Warm Springs as a significant place in the history of African Americans in the Commonwealth of Virginia. According to the official press release from the commemoration ceremony, African Americans recently freed from slavery purchased parcels of land west of Warm Springs and founded the community in the antebellum period of the American Civil War. [1] Residents gained employment at the Warm Springs Pools or the Homestead Resort, or they fashioned careers as tradespeople and entrepreneurs. West Warm Springs is an important example of an Appalachian freedmen's town. [2]
Community members of West Warm Springs gradually erected spaces for worship, education, and community life. Of note, the John Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery, founded in 1873, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. [3]
Garrett County is the westernmost county of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,806, making it the third-least populous county in Maryland. Its county seat is Oakland. The county was named for John Work Garrett (1820–1884), president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Created from Allegany County, Maryland in 1873, it was the last Maryland county to be formed.
Oakland is a town in the west-central part of Garrett County, Maryland, United States. The town has a population of 1,925 according to the 2010 United States Census. The town is also the county seat of Garrett County and is located within the Pittsburgh DMA.
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 an excellent jumping off point for exploring the Potomac and Cacapon Rivers valleys just to the north and west. Along with also being 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.
Gilmer County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,408, making it West Virginia's fifth-least populous county. Its county seat is Glenville. The county was formed in 1845 from parts of Lewis and Kanawha Counties, and named for Thomas Walker Gilmer, Governor of Virginia from 1840 to 1841. Gilmer was later a representative in the United States Congress and Secretary of the Navy in President John Tyler's cabinet.
Bath County is a United States county on the central western border of the Commonwealth of Virginia, on the West Virginia state line. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,209, the second-least populous county in Virginia. Bath's county seat is Warm Springs.
Amherst is a town in Amherst County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,231 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Amherst County.
Monterey is a town in Highland County, Virginia, United States. The population was 147 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Highland County.
Louisa is a town in Louisa County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,555 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Louisa County.
Sutton is a town in Braxton County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 876 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Braxton County. Sutton is situated at a center of transportation in West Virginia. Interstate 79, a major north–south route, connects with Appalachian Corridor L, another significant north–south route, passes several miles south of town.
Petersburg is a city in Grant County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,251 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Grant County.
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 Virginia post office, Berkeley Springs. The population of the town was 800 (estimated). The town is located within the Hagerstown–Martinsburg, MD–WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. Berkeley Springs is a sister city to Bath, Somerset, England.
Addison, commonly known as Webster Springs, is a town in and the county seat of Webster County, West Virginia, United States. Although it was incorporated as Addison in 1892, it is more frequently referred to as Webster Springs, the name of the town's post office. It was named for Addison McLaughlin, upon whose land the town was originally laid out. The population was 731 at the 2020 census.
Hot Springs is a census-designated place (CDP) in Bath County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2010 Census was 738. It is located about 5 miles southwest of Warm Springs on U.S. Route 220.
Warm Springs is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Bath County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2010 census was 123. It lies along U.S. Route 220 near the center of the county. Warm Springs includes the historical mill town called Germantown. To the west lies West Warm Springs.
Sweet Springs is an unincorporated community in Monroe County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Sweet Springs lies at the intersection of West Virginia Route 3 and West Virginia Route 311.
Bacova is an unincorporated community in Bath County, Virginia, in the United States. It was created in the early 20th century as a company town; its name is simply an abbreviation of Bath County, VA.
Millboro Springs is an unincorporated community in Bath County, Virginia, in the United States.
Mitchelltown is an unincorporated community in Bath County, Virginia, in the United States. The community is located along U.S. Route 220, north of Hot Springs, Virginia and south of Warm Springs, Virginia. The community is the location of Valley Supermarket, making it a common artery of the Bath County community.
John Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery, also known as John Wesley United Methodist Church and Wesley Chapel, is a historic Methodist Episcopal church and cemetery located at West Warm Springs, Bath County, Virginia. It was built by former slaves in 1873, and is a one-story, front-gabled, log church, clad in weatherboard with a stone foundation. A frame vestibule with bell tower was added to the front of the church and a choir loft rear extension was added in 1923. In 1982 a one-story, frame Sunday School addition, clad in vinyl siding was built by volunteers and added to the southeast elevation. The church represents the lone built representation of the first decades of the African-American settlement at West Warm Springs.
Gum Springs is a community in Fairfax County in Hybla Valley along Route 1. The African American community, the oldest in the county, was established in 1833 by West Ford, a freedman who had been manumitted by Hannah Bushrod Washington, in 1805. A historical marker was erected by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources in 1991.
Coordinates: 38°03′23″N79°48′22″W / 38.05639°N 79.80611°W