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 1913.

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.

by Sandra Merville Hart

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, one that dates back to 1785, when Michael Bowyer owned the land. He hired a couple to manage his health resort and early guests stayed in their own tents to partake of the waters.

The health resort grew from those humble beginnings to become a place where the wealthy came to drink the waters. Guests brought their whole families and stayed for weeks in the summer. They walked across the lawn to the Springhouse to drink tumblers of water before breakfast, lunch, and supper.

Dr. Moorman served resort guests in the 1800s for decades. He recommended starting with 4 – 8 glasses daily, growing to a maximum of 12 glasses daily in two weeks. He felt that guests would see health benefits for the bowels, liver, kidneys, and skin in 3 – 6 weeks.

Dyspepsia, jaundice, chronic rheumatism, scurvy, and neuralgia were a few of the conditions he saw improvement among guests drinking spring water. Other doctors sent their patients to the resort for a variety of ailments.

To satisfy guests’ demand for the waters in between visits, it was sent in bottles and barrels to apothecaries in major cities. Nearly every drug store in America sold cases of 24 bottles for $5 by 1902. It was labeled as A Natural Laxative and was sold until 1942.

The spring waters are an important part of the story in A Spring at The Greenbrier, where 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.

by Sandra Merville Hart

In A Spring at The Greenbrier, Book 7 in Romance at the Gilded Age Resorts Series, Marilla, our heroine, works at The Greenbrier. This historic resort had been purchased from previous owners in 1910, who renamed it “The White”. Guests who had been returning for long stays year after year chose to affectionately refer to the hotel as “The Old White”.

Three churches held Sunday services at The Greenbrier around the time it changed hands. St. Thomas’ Episcopal Chapel had been built in 1885. Local residents had built a Methodist church in 1855, and it was largely attended by guests as well as townspeople. From its high position on the resort, St. Charles, Church of Rome, offered breathtaking views to churchgoers.

The grounds had changed little for fifty years before the new owners took over in 1910. Dramatic changes were made in the remodeling and not only in the addition of wings.

New walkways were laid on the center of the grounds after the old dining room was torn down. Romantic trails were created in the woods, giving couples plenty of choices—Lover’s Walk, Hesitance Row, Lover’s Leap, Courtship Maze, Rejection Row, and Acceptance Way to Paradise.

Although the needs of her family has forced Marilla, our heroine in A Spring at The Greenbrier, to push aside dreams of a husband and family, she still longs to walk the romantic trails with a handsome beau.

Sources

Conte, Robert S. The History of The Greenbrier: America’s Resort, Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1989.

McDowell, Aubin Aydelotte. Greenbrier White Sulphur Springs: White Sulphur Springs as known in History and Tradition, W.F. Roberts & Co, 1909.