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Bath County’s History Lives On
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Photo credits: Deborah Huso (Warwick Mansion); Charles Garratt (Jefferson Pools); Matthew Campagna, The Recorder (Bath County Courthouse); Mustoe House (Mustoe House); Bath County Historical Society (old photos) |
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ath
is a place virtually untouched by time. Life
goes on here much as it did 200 years ago. Farming remains
a mainstay of life, and “taking the waters” is still
a favorite pastime of Bath County’s visitors.
Long
before European Americans came to the Allegheny Mountains,
Native Americans considered the region now known as Bath as a sacred
space. Here they came to enjoy the healing springs that bubble
to the earth’s surface in natural pools in the Warm Springs
Valley. In the 18th century, the area gradually became a
place of retreat and rejuvenation for European colonists, culminating
in the establishment of what we know today as
The Homestead resort
in 1766.
Many
more historic icons remain here, including the Jefferson
Pools in Warm Springs, which have served tourists since the 1700s.
South of Hot Springs, visitors can explore Bath County’s
oldest structure, Mustoe House, which now houses an antique and
art gallery, or visit the antebellum Warwick Mansion in Hidden
Valley, film set for the Jody Foster and Richard Gere film Sommersby.