Berkeley Springs High School - Arrowhead Yearbook (Berkeley Springs, WV)

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O The Berkeley Springs an sitnat« d in Morgan County, V( st Virginia, two miles. south of tin Potomac Kiver, eight miles south of tin Mason-Dixon Line, one hundred miles from Baltimore and Washington, and two hundred miles from Pittsburg. They were the first mineral springs developed in America after its dis- covery ny Europeans. Explorers were attracted to them by their large vol- ume of warm clear water amt by the Indians who resorted here in great num- bers for the cure of rheumatism by which many of them were afflicted. George Washington, in his diary, when or. an exploration expedition as far hack as 1748, wrote of them as “the famed warm springs.” In that clay the bathers were protected by pine branches placed around the Springs as a screen. In 1770 the legislature of Virginia was so profoundly impressed with the curative value of the waters that it passed an act providing for a lot snlej with consequent improved facilities for bathing and entertainment, that it might he used by the sick and disabled soldiers of the Revolutionary War that was in progress. Many of ;he most noted men in merica of that day were numberd among the purchasers, including George Washington, Col. Washington, Charles Car- rol, of Carrolton, General Gates, and many others. At these springs, Tames Uumsey kept a hoarding house and applied his trade as carpenter and general mechanic between the years 1780 and 1790, using the proceeds of same in a construction of the first steam boat in the world, which was launched on the Potomac River at a point about two miles distant from Berkeley Springs. This was launched during one of General Washington’s visits. Prom 1845 to 1848 a very large hotel was built, for ttiat day and time, capable of housing seven or eight hundred guests. This building was throng od with visitors during the summer period until destroyed by lire in 1898. Yhe town has not enjoyed a largo hotel since that date, although several smaller ones have been maintained. The Springs are included in a park of several acres in extent owned hv the state of West Virginia. There are proper bathing facilities to serve the public all the year around. l»r. C. W. Chancellor, an authority on mineral springs, says that the waters of Berkeley Springs are equal if not superior to any Springs in Ger- many . They are connected by rail, the B. ( . Railroad, to the principal cities. The National Old Trails Road is only six miles away, to which it is connected by a concrete road. The Old Northwestern Turn-Pike passes near, and a road from Berkeley Springs is now being connected with that highway, and the Lincoln Highway also passes within twenty-six miles of the Springs. PAGE EIGHT

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 0 03OEO6O9CQO6OE!C6O0O6OQOQO9O6O6O9O0OQC6O6C9C6O6C8O9C6O9C6C6C6O6C 9 V OUR TOWN BERKELEY SPRINGS WEST VA. 9. •? rj 11 w bhS v PACE SEVEN

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i.-COCOl OUR SCHOOL BATH DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL