Bathing in the Sulphur Springs at The Greenbrier
by Sandra Merville Hart
Healings from the sulphur springs in White Sulphur Springs date back to the Revolutionary although the Shawnee already knew of its health benefits.
Mrs. Anderson, an early homesteader in the area, suffered from chronic rheumatism and may have learned of the spring from the Shawnee. In 1778, her family took her to the spring. They erected a tent and hollowed out a log for a tub. Mrs. Anderson drank the water and bathed in heated water. After a few weeks, her improvement was so dramatic that the news quickly spread to local settlers, some of whom came to the springs for healing and the reduction of pain from rheumatism.
The first resort began in 1785, when early guests stayed in tents. Buildings were erected and many improvements were made over the years as it changed ownership. New owners purchased the resort in 1910, who closed it for renovations. A new bath wing opened in the grand reopening in 1912.
Mosaic tile enhanced the beauty of a beautiful rectangular pool on the first floor. At 100 feet x 42 feet, it was one of the largest pools in the world at the time. A high glass dome enclosed it. Ladies sat to sew on the comfortable chairs among hot-house plants outside the pool.
The second and third floors of the Bath Wing had heated sulphur spring bathing rooms and mud baths. The Men’s Department was on the second floor and the Women’s Department was on the third floor. Doctors sent their wealthy patients to the springs with a recommended regimen of bathing that might also include drinking the spring water. Folks suffering from a variety of ailments sought benefits from the spring waters, including gout, rheumatism, arthritis, neuritis, dyspepsia, jaundice, scurvy, chronic splenitis, pyrosis, and chronic diseases of the skin.
The first guest signed the registry in the newly remodeled resort on September 25, 1913. The Greenbrier’s grand reopening brought another change—it was now open year-round.,
In A Spring at The Greenbrier, Book 7 in Romance at the Gilded Age Resorts Series, Marilla, our heroine, works at The Greenbrier in 1914. Her first job at the resort was serving guests tumblers of sulphur spring water, a tradition at the historic hotel. When the doctor suggests that her younger sister would benefit from bathing in heated spring waters, Marilla moves to the Bath Wing, an important part of the story because two little girls need its benefits.
Sources
Conte, Robert S. The History of The Greenbrier: America’s Resort, Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1989.
Moorman, J.J., Md. Directory for Use of White Sulphur Waters with Practical Remarks on their Medicinal Properties, T.K. & P.G. Collins, 1839.
Mutter, Thomas Dent, M.D. Classic Reprint Series: The Salt Sulphur Springs, Monroe County, VA, T.K. & P.G. Collins, Printer, 1840.
