Washington Heritage Trail Washington Heritage Trail Washington Heritage Trail Washington Heritage Trail Washington Heritage Trail Washington Heritage Trail Washington Heritage Trail Washington Heritage Trail
Washington Heritage Trail Visitor Services History Calendar of Events Other Self-Guided Tours Links & Resources
Washington Heritage Trail
 
 
Jefferson County, WV
About Jefferson County
Harpers Ferry
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
Jefferson Rock
Shenandoah Canal
Shepherdstown
Entler Hotel
Rumsey Monument and Tobacco Warehouse
Morgan's Grove Park
Peter Burr House
Charles Town
Jefferson County Courthouse and Museum
Zion Episcopal Church
Happy Retreat
St. George's Chapel Ruins
Harewood
Cedar Lawn
Claymont Court/Blakeley
Middleway Historic District
Berkeley County, WV
About Berkeley County
Martinsburg
B&O Roundhouse & Station Complex
Belle Boyd House
Berkeley County Courthouse
Triple Brick Museum
General Adam Stephen House
Green Hill Cemetery
Van Metre Ford Bridge
Bunker Hill Mill
Morgan Chapel
Morgan Cabin
Gerrardstown Historic District
Hays Gerrard House
Mill's Gap
Sleep Creek Wildlife Management Area
Hedgesville Historic District
Mt. Zion Episcopal Church
Snodgrass Tavern
Morgan County, WV
About Morgan County
Spruce Pine Hollow Park
Berkeley Springs
Dutch Cemetery
Throgmorton's Inn
Bath Historic District
Berkeley Springs State Park
George Washington's Bathtub
Roman Bath House & Museum of the Berkeley Springs
Washington's Lots
Sir John's Run
Panorama Overlook
Great Cacapon
Camp Hill Cemetery
Paw Paw
Paw Paw Tunnel
Coolfont Manor House
Cacapon State Park

Washington Heritage Trail

 

BATH HISTORIC
DISTRICT


Nearly 30 years after colonial travelers, including a teenaged George Washington, pitched tents and “took the waters” in stone-lined pools, the Virginia Legislature in 1776 established a town called Bath on 50 acres around the warm mineral springs. The legislative act called for building “convenient houses for accommodating numbers of infirm persons, who frequent those springs yearly, for the recovery of their health.” The official name of the municipality remains Bath although the world knows it by the Post Office name of Berkeley Springs.

A walking tour traces the history of dozens of historic buildings within the 18th-century town limits beginning with the founders and buyers of the first lots sold in 1777 including George and Samuel Washington as well as three signers of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, two Revolutionary War generals and a half dozen members of the Continental Congress. The colonial elite clearly selected Bath as a fashionable summer escape. Berkeley Castle, overlooking the town, was built as an elaborate summer cottage in 1885 and is once more a private residence.

 



Copyright © 2010, Washington Heritage Trail, Inc. Funded in part by the Federal Highway Administration.