Berkeley Springs Walking Tour: Dutch Cemetery

1. Dutch Cemetery

Palatinate Germans, called Dutch from the translation of Deutsch, migrated south to Berkeley Springs from Pennsylvania. Lots 1 and 2 of the original town plat were set aside by the trustees in 1777 for a German church and two other houses. There is no indication that any structures were built. It was variously known as the Dutch, German or Lutheran Cemetery. The body of Doctor Samuel Crawford, victim of a postwar lynching in 1876, was buried there. In 1888, two men reported seeing the ghost of Crawford standing over his grave in the old Dutch graveyard. There was a move in 1917 to move the few bodies interred here to Greenway Cemetery so the land could be available for development. No action was taken. Gravestones have been restored in recent years.

Perched on the hill overlooking the cemetery is the Community Services Building which was originally constructed as Bath District High School in 1918 on the grounds of Mt. Wesley Academy. It is typical masonry design of the period with decorative brick patterns, limestone base and architrave. The ballfield uphill from the building was the exact location of the academy.

On Martinsburg Rd. at Green Street, the tiny structure was opened as a gas station in 1934, a period when car service business were springing up throughout town. The Italianate Victorian on the hill, recently operated as a bed and breakfast, was constructed by Dr. John Hunter for his family in 1875. The unusual board and batten siding is original.

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Travel Berkeley Springs
Berkeley Springs - Morgan County Chamber of Commerce
127 Fairfax Street
Berkeley Springs, WV 25411
800-447-8797