PAWV
  • Give to PAWV
    • Give Online
    • Become a Partner
    • Planned Gifts
    • Volunteer
    • Kroger Community Rewards
    • Shop at AmazonSmile
  • Resources
    • Funding
    • Consultants and Contractors
    • Preservation Techniques >
      • Historic Building Assessment
      • Window Rehabilitation
      • Mothballing Property
    • Educational Resources
  • Programs
    • Advocacy
    • Annual Awards
    • Endangered Property >
      • Endangered Properties List
    • Biennial Conference >
      • 2018 Conference
    • Historic Preservation Loan Fund
    • Workshops
    • West Virginia Historic Theatre Trail
  • AmeriCorps
    • About Preserve WV
    • Preserve WV Stories
    • Preserve WV Members
    • Join AmeriCorps
    • Sponsor a Member
    • Preserve WV Alumni
  • About Us
    • Contact PAWV
    • Our Team
    • Our Story
    • News and Notes
    • Forms and Documents

BLUE SULPHUR SPRINGS PAVILION ~ 2013 WV ENDANGERED PROPERTY

4/3/2013

 
By Lynn Stasick, Statewide Field Representative

Early 19th Century Antebellum Virginia saw the rise of a number of resorts in what is now West Virginia.  The Greenbrier at White Sulphur Springs is the only site yet operating, but there were many including Sweet Springs, Salt Sulphur, Green Sulphur, Red Sulphur, and Blue Sulphur to name a few, but Blue Sulphur Springs is the subject of this article
Picture
(For more information about the history of all these springs, check out this excellent online exhibition about medicinal springs from the University of Virginia’s Claude Moore Health Sciences Library.)

It was popular belief that the sulphur waters, taken both internally as well as bathed in were a curative for any number of diseases, and ostensibly that is why people, (mostly the rich) visited the resorts.  There was however another reason of equal import; to escape the oppressive heat, humidity, insects, and various diseases prevalent along the summer coast of the Virginias.

John J. Moorman, The Virginia Springs of the South and West, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1859: facing page 217. Historical Collections & Services, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia.
http://www.hsl.virginia.edu/historical/exhibits/springs/blue.cfm

Blue Sulphur, so named for the iridescent color of the springs was constructed in 1834, the year the resort opened.  It began its decline in the 1850s due to competition.  In 1859, it became a college for Baptist ministers but closed in 1861 with the outbreak of the Civil War.  Both Confederate and Union troops utilized the site as a hospital and camp until it was burned by departing Union troops in 1864 leaving only the pavilion and spring un-touched.

The saving of the site is in the planning stages for the Save the Blue group and the Greenbrier Historical Society.  Plugged up drains have caused a swampy condition which will be dealt with first.  Then work can begin saving the pavilion which is in need of much attention.  Once work is complete, the site will become a two acre park, and a most enjoyable park it will be.  I just wonder if anyone will “take the waters?”

For more information on the 2013 WV Endangered Properties, visit
 http://www.pawv.org/endangedlist2013.htm.

Comments are closed.

    News and Notes

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    About
    Advocacy
    Awards
    Conferences
    Endangered Properties
    Excuse For An Excursion
    Federal Historic Tax Credit
    Heritage Areas
    Historic Architecture
    Historic Preservation Funding
    Historic Preservation Programs
    Miscellaneous
    Newsletter
    Preservation Legislation
    Preserve WV AmeriCorps
    State Historic Tax Credit
    Training

    Archives

    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012


    Subscribe to our mailing list to receive e-news updates on historic preservation news and events in West Virginia.
    Subscribe

Get Involved

  • Give Online
  • Become a Partner
  • Volunteer
  • Join AmeriCorps 
  • ​​Sponsor a Member
  • ​Subscribe
  • Kroger Community Rewards
  • Shop with Amazon Smile
  • Contact Us

Programs

  • Our Latest Newsletter
  • Our Latest E-News
  • Preserve WV AmeriCorps
  • Advocacy
  • ​Preservation Awards
  • Endangered Properties List
  • Biennial Conferences
  • Historic Preservation Loan Fund
  • WV Historic Theatre Trail

Contact Us

Preservation Alliance of West Virginia
​421 Davis Avenue, #4  |  Elkins, WV 26241
​Email: info@pawv.org
Phone: ​304-345-6005
Give Now

PAWV Logo
© COPYRIGHT 2017 - PRESERVATION ALLIANCE OF WEST VIRGINIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Give to PAWV
    • Give Online
    • Become a Partner
    • Planned Gifts
    • Volunteer
    • Kroger Community Rewards
    • Shop at AmazonSmile
  • Resources
    • Funding
    • Consultants and Contractors
    • Preservation Techniques >
      • Historic Building Assessment
      • Window Rehabilitation
      • Mothballing Property
    • Educational Resources
  • Programs
    • Advocacy
    • Annual Awards
    • Endangered Property >
      • Endangered Properties List
    • Biennial Conference >
      • 2018 Conference
    • Historic Preservation Loan Fund
    • Workshops
    • West Virginia Historic Theatre Trail
  • AmeriCorps
    • About Preserve WV
    • Preserve WV Stories
    • Preserve WV Members
    • Join AmeriCorps
    • Sponsor a Member
    • Preserve WV Alumni
  • About Us
    • Contact PAWV
    • Our Team
    • Our Story
    • News and Notes
    • Forms and Documents
✕