1.800.447.8797                                                   Official Website of Berkeley Springs, WV ~ The Country's First Spa

There is a town, Berkeley Springs, for you to visit today because of the warm mineral springs that naturally bubble up in the tiny state park that is its heart. Source of sparkling and abundant natural water, prized for centuries for drinking and bathing, these thermal springs are also the inspiration for a longstanding spa industry. Early explorers learned the power of the water to soothe and heal from the Native Americans who were bathing in the springs when the colonials first arrived in the 1740s, earning the springs the title of "the most ancient watering place in the valley"..

From this frontier time to the present the springs have been known by various names including Hot Springs, Healing Springs, Warm Springs, Frederick Springs and Medicinal Springs. For more than two centuries, the town -- officially known as Bath -- thrived as a health spa and vacation resort. Today, it ranks among the most noted and popular spa destinations, and is known to the world by the name of its waters -- Berkeley Springs.

Fifty acres adjoining the springs were laid out as Bath by George Washington's family and friends in 1776 then established as a town by the Virginia Legislature. Plaques noting the buyers of those first town lots are scattered throughout the town.

We begin our tour just south of the Berkeley Springs State Park and historic springs, on the west side of Washington Street (Rt. 522) as it travels north through town.

Information on park history was developed through a grant from the West Virginia Humanities Council.