Berkeley Springs Baths - Berkeley Springs, West Virginia
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member flyingmoose
N 39° 37.633 W 078° 13.744
17S E 737824 N 4390052
Located within Berkeley Springs State Park.
Waymark Code: WM13764
Location: West Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 10/01/2020
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member RakeInTheCache
Views: 2

SPA:
Treat yourself to a luxurious whirlpool or a blissful Roman Bath at the Main Bathhouse. You can also enjoy a wide selection of traditional and trending spa services. The private walk-in Roman Bath contains 750 gallons of mineral water heated to 102 degree and sourced right from the spring. The whirlpool, also heated to 102 degrees, is a 150-gallon mineral bath with jets. A 20-minute sauna may be added to your package with any bath or massage service.

Located in the center of historic Berkeley Springs, Berkeley Springs State Park is home to a mineral spa that has been in use since colonial times. The park is renowned for its warm spring water, which flows at a constant temperature of 74.3 degrees. The park’s Old Roman and Main bathhouses offer a wide selection of spa services, including massages, saunas, baths and showers. - State Park Website

History:
"Long before the first Europeans discovered the warm waters of Berkeley Springs, it was already a famous health mecca which attracted Native Americans from the St. Lawrence Seaway in Canada and the Great Lakes to the Carolinas. Those first settlers, who came in 1730, learned the uses and value of the springs from the Native Americans and began spreading the word of its benefits throughout the settlements of the east.

Perhaps the most notable and influential advocate of the curative powers of the springs was George Washington, who, at 16, visited them as a member of a survey party. As the party, which was surveying the western limits of Thomas Lord Fairfax’s lands, camped there for the night, young Washington noted in his diary, “March 18th, 1748, We this day called to see Ye Fam’d Warm Springs.” For many years afterwards, George Washington visited the springs regularly, and it was largely through his efforts that its fame as a health spa grew throughout the colonies. At the urging of the Colony of Virginia and in the public interest, Lord Fairfax conveyed his land holdings at the springs and fifty adjacent acres to the Colony of Virginia in 1776. Shortly thereafter, the land was offered for public sale.

George Washington, three signers of the Declaration of Independence, four signers of the Constitution, seven members of the Continental Congress and five Revolutionary generals were among the prominent colonists who made initial purchases there. Hence, the springs’ reputation as a health resort became firmly established.

Borrowing the name of a famous counterpart in England, the General Assembly of Virginia formed the town of Bath on this location in 1776 and created a board of trustees to govern the new town. James Rumsey, who later invented the first successful steamboat, was then contracted to construct five bathhouses and several other public buildings. This officially established the springs as a resort facility." State Park Website
This is primarily a: Mineral Bath

Street Address:
2 South Washington Street
Berkeley Springs, West Virginia United States of America
25411


Walk in/Day use permitted?: yes

Least Expensive Adult Entry Fee: 25

"Textile free"?: Not permitted

Telephone Number: 304-258-2711

Web Site: [Web Link]

Hottest water temperature (specify °C or °F): 102 °F

Opening Hours:
Daily: 1000 - 1800


Towels Provided?: Not Listed

Visit Instructions:
Please comment on your experience and provide any tips for future visitors.
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Recent Visits/Logs:
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Cacher_Alec visited Berkeley Springs Baths - Berkeley Springs, West Virginia 09/03/2023 Cacher_Alec visited it
r.e.s.t.seekers visited Berkeley Springs Baths - Berkeley Springs, West Virginia 07/21/2017 r.e.s.t.seekers visited it

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