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EN COACHES were ready to depart from Farmer's Hotel at the western corner of Fredericksburg's Caroline Street. A resident recorded that one team of thoroughbred sorrels made Chancellor's Tavern, 10 miles away, in one hour. The time was the 1830s and the travelers were en route to the springs of western Virginia. There, in the cool shadows of the Allegheny Mountains, they would "take the waters" to cure their ills, court, dance and dine.
Best of all, they would renew old acquaintances, for they were a close-knit group. Virginia writer John Esten Cooke described the springs-goers as "a single family, everybody knowing everybody else."
Their journey may have been companionable, but it was not easy. Today, a drive of about four hours takes Fredericksburg-area residents to The Homestead (Hot Springs) or The Greenbrier (White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.) In the 1830s and beyond, the trip lasted about four days, with rough roads and uncertain weather. Some springs-goers from Washington came by steamboat and connected to the stagecoaches at Fredericksburg.
In his book, "The History of The Greenbrier," Robert S. Conte, The Greenbrier's historian, describes the 1836 springs journey by stagecoach of Edward Hill, a farmer who lived near Fredericksburg. Hill wrote in his journal that he rode backward for nine hours, had "a miserably mean dinner" at a tavern near Gordonsville, and got up at 3 a.m. for the next day's journey.
Early travelers went to White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County (then part of Virginia) and Hot Springs in Bath County, but they also enjoyed many other springs that have now been lost to time. Starting in the early 19th century, "The Great Western Springs Tour" began at Warm Springs and Hot Springs with the next stop White Sulphur and then on to Old Sweet, Salt Sulphur, Blue Sulphur, Gray Sulphur and Red Sulphur.
New Yorker John Edwards Caldwell described his visits to the springs in his little book, "A Tour Through Part of Virginia in the Summer of 1808." He celebrated the Fourth of July at Old Sweet, where "music and dancing frequently crown the evening." His next stop was Red Sulphur, "a place of great celebrity," where he witnessed "surprising cures."
At White Sulphur (The Greenbrier), the waters were the strongest Caldwell had ever tasted and "have been found highly beneficial for disorders of the blood." He visited the three baths at Hot Springs (The Homestead) and saw the remains of an Indian sweating house. At nearby Warm Springs, he found "perhaps the largest and most elegant bath in the world" with "blood-warm water"--today The Homestead's Jefferson Pools. Caldwell concluded his Virginia tour with a visit to President Thomas Jefferson at Monticello.
Old Sweet, open by 1790, was renowned for its hexagonal pool and black walnut flights of stairs. Blue Sulphur was very popular but suffered financial woes; by mid-19th century, its facilities became Allegheny College. However, its academic future was short-lived: In September 1860, fire destroyed the main building, and in 1861, most of the students deserted school to join the Confederate Army.
With its Nullification Row of cottages, Salt Sulphur was favored by the South Carolinians. In its huge limestone building, President Martin Van Buren was honored with an illumination of 2,000 candles. Confederate Col. John Mosby's men would gather there and at The Healing in Craig County after the Civil War.
Other springs resorts were scattered throughout the state: Berkeley Springs in the Eastern Panhandle of what is now West Virginia; Orkney Springs near New Market; Allegheny near Christiansburg; Yellow Sulphur near Blacksburg; Jordan White Sulphur at Winchester; Bath Alum and Huguenot Springs near Richmond; Amelia Springs in Amelia County and Little Sewell Alum Springs west of Lewisburg.
Fauquier White Sulphur Springs near Warrenton boasted a four-story hotel with a ball every night and food under the direction of the Gadsby's Tavern chef. Turner Ashby, of future Confederate fame, was the leading knight in tournaments patterned after the novels of Sir Walter Scott. "Grand tournaments" also were held at Montgomery White Sulphur Springs, where Confederate Gen. Dabney Maury of Fredericksburg would found the Southern Historical Society.
The tournament tradition was still alive and well in August 1885 at Red Sulphur near Roanoke. In Fredericksburg, The Free Lance devoted three adjective-filled columns to the "brilliant" event. The newspaper's correspondent was eloquent when he described the knights and their ladies: The Queen of Love and Beauty "forcibly reminded us of the fair Rowena of Scott's delightful romance ['Ivanhoe']."
Guests came from as far away as New York City and Arkansas and as near as Roanoke and Salem. A "lady friend" helped the newspaperman describe the ladies' elegant outfits, the majority liberally ornamented with diamonds, lace and flowers ranging from pansies to pond lilies. At 2 a.m., the young people "were still flitting through the mazes of the german [dance], apparently in a state of rapturous enjoyment."
Virginia writer James Branch Cabell, author of "Jurgen," favored Rockbridge Alum and used it as the inspiration for his imaginary medieval country of Poictesme. For a long time, Rockbridge Alum was second in size to Greenbrier County's White Sulphur.
But by the early decades of the 20th century, most of the springs, large and small, began to fade into the shadows of their mountains. Reasons included lack of railroads and financial woes dating back to investments in Confederate bonds. Some of their buildings were put to more mundane uses; others fell into ruin.
Today, only The Greenbrier (White Sulphur Springs) and The Homestead (Hot Springs) carry on the glamorous traditions of the old springs.
The Homestead and The Greenbrier date to the 18th century. Savoring their rich histories, both have staff historians: Robert S. Conte at The Greenbrier and John R. Hoover Jr. at The Homestead.
"The Homestead 1766" logo announces the founding of the Bath County resort 10 years before the American Revolution. Here, Thomas Bullett, surveyor and French & Indian War hero, opened a one-story wooden lodge in 1766.
To be successful, his spa needed decent access roads. Fredericksburg's George Washington and Fielding Lewis were among those who tried to come to the rescue with The Mountain Road Lottery, with Washington as its manager. The lottery failed because of competition, but the state gradually built new roads to the springs.
Meanwhile, in 1778 at White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County, Mrs. John Anderson both drank and bathed (in a hollowed tree trunk) and was "perfectly restored" from rheumatism. Staunton lawyer Michael Bowyer acquired the springs at White Sulphur at the end of the American Revolution.
In 1810, his son-in-law, James Calwell, became the owner and began turning the property into a resort. He was described as "a man of urbane manner and kindness of heart." With a tavern already on the property, Calwell built a 120-foot-long dining hall, a ballroom with lodging above and 80-stall stables at each end.
He christened two cottages Paradise Row (especially for newlyweds) and Wolf Row (for merry young bachelors whose favorite drink was the Hail Storm, a large frosted mint julep). Others were named for Virginia, Alabama, South Carolina. Georgia and Baltimore. Later came the imposing white-columned Colonnades containing the cottages of South Carolinian Cols. Wade Hampton II and Richard Singleton.
By 1824, the James River and Kanawha Turnpike opened from the east to White Sulphur Springs, and enthusiastic travelers came by stagecoach and private carriage. Their last stop before White Sulphur was 15 miles to the east at Callaghan's Tavern, where they spent the night and ate the tavern's famous fried chicken.
In an 1832 letter, Baltimore lawyer John H.R. Latrobe described a traveler's first view of the Springs: "There was the spot! Cottages hidden in the dark green foliage, long rows of white houses of all descriptions, lawn of the freshest verdure, carriages of all fashions under its trees, groups laughing and running and walking across it."
Important guests were met at the foot of the mountain and were brought to the springs in an open barouche drawn by four white horses.
Over in Bath County, Dr. Thomas Goode bought The Homestead in 1832. He built a new, three-story-tall Homestead with classical proportions and architecture that included the resort's first ballroom. He introduced the European Spout Bath, a pressurized stream of warm, natural spring water directed at the part of the body that aches.
Six prominent Virginians, including "Pathfinder of the Seas" Matthew Fontaine Maury, a native of the Fredericksburg area, bought White Sulphur Springs. Their huge new hotel, which came to be known as The Old White, opened in 1858. It had one of the largest ballrooms in America; its dining room could seat about 1,200 guests at one time.
One of Dr. Goode's prescriptions for The Homestead's success was providing an elegant setting for courtship and romance. The same prescription was being dispensed at White Sulphur Springs.
Historian Perceval Reniers wrote: "No other places in the South were the equal of the springs for the making of marriages."
At Lover's Walk, White Sulphur sweethearts could choose from two paths. The left path, Hesitancy Row, led to a dead end. Next was Lovers Leap, which overlooked a steep cliff. A sharp turn led to Courtship Maze. To the left was Rejection Row. To the right was Acceptance Way to Paradise--the route to Paradise Cottage.
Unique to White Sulphur was The Treadmill, where evening flirtation was carried on with a form of stately marching after the evening meal and before the ball. The Billing, Wooing and Cooing Society ensured that young ladies would meet only respectable gentlemen. The "Law of the Springs" decreed that no girl might slip off the piazzas after dark, even with her own grandfather.
At The Homestead, Dr. Goode courted the spirit of romance with lavish dinners, balls, horseback rides and carriage rides. As a further inducement to budding beauties, he advertised that The Homestead's waters would cure freckles--the bane of 19th-century belles.
Meanwhile, beginning in the early 1840s, White Sulphur was selling its spring water in bottles and barrels for home use, with a testimonial from Henry Clay. A major source of the resort's income in later years, it was available from 1902 to 1942 in most American drugstores.
As the Civil War approached, Southern sentiment ran high at the springs. White Sulphur installed a pistol gallery; a Mr. Cary, captain of Company F, Richmond Volunteers, drilled his troops on the grounds. Even a group of little children drilled on the lawn.
At The Homestead, times were lean both before and after the war as Confederate and Union troops marched through its valley. However, because of the isolation of Bath County, the old resort escaped the worst of it.
The opposite was the case for White Sulphur Springs, which became a Confederate military headquarters and eventually a hospital for both sides. Wounded filled the cots in the Old White's parlor and dining room. Today, an impressive marker at The Greenbrier marks the mass grave of Confederates killed during the Battle of White Sulphur Springs.
When White Sulphur reopened in July 1867, it was a shabby remnant of its once-elegant self. Its guests, despite being equally shabby, were filled with anticipation. They were eagerly awaiting the arrival of Gen. Robert E. Lee and his family
And Gen. Lee was very glad to see them, too. He marched along in the Treadmill, met old friends and introduced strangers. "The place looks beautiful, the belles very handsome, and the beaux very happy," he wrote his son.
The springs were almost second homes for the Lees; sometimes the waters relieved Mrs. Lee's chronic rheumatism. White Sulphur and Old Sweet were always favorites; the general also liked "The Hot" and Mrs. Lee, "The Warm." Daughter Mary Custis Lee once brought home a special muffin recipe from Warm Springs.
The year 1869 was the general's final season at White Sulphur, and historian Conte notes that it was "long remembered as one of the most brilliant of the entire 19th century." An elaborate ball honored Massachusetts philanthropist George Peabody, who had donated millions to the Fund for Southern Education.
Matthew Fontaine Maury was there--the French government had just asked him to build new waterways in France. So many Confederate officers were at the White that the Khedive of Egypt sent agents to recruit military leaders for his army. He could interview, among others, noted Confederates P.G.T. Beauregard, George Pickett, Joseph Johnston, John Hood and John Mosby.
The completion of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad to the doors of White Sulphur Springs made 1869 a very good year, with some 2,000 guests. The next decades were filled with belles, balls and beaux. Wealthy Northerners came in ever-increasing numbers. Some of the belles carried as many as six bouquets during the afternoon promenade.
Virginia Gov. Fitzhugh Lee led the pageant that opened the White Sulphur Springs Colonial Ball for the construction of the Mary Washington Monument in Fredericksburg. Three balls benefited the building of the Robert E. Lee Monument in Richmond. For many years, Robert E. Lee Weeks were held at White Sulphur Springs.
War had spared The Homestead, but, with a series of absentee owners, it was in a serious decline. Its renaissance came when New York banker J.P. Morgan and other financiers and industrialists bought the resort in 1888. Now, a railroad brought year-round access. Thomas Edison, a frequent guest, supplied the first electric power plant.
One of Morgan's partners was Seth Barton French, a Spotsylvania County native who is buried in the Fredericksburg Confederate Cemetery. His 30-room cottage, which he named Barton Lodge, still stands at The Homestead. He built another elegant cottage for his mother-in-law on land that is still known as French's Hill.
Thanks to J.P. Morgan and others, The Homestead was rebuilt following a 1901 fire, which left only the brick chimneys of the hotel. Fortunately, the spa was saved. The new building--the present Homestead--was built of Kentucky red brick, limestone and steel. Its 12-story clock tower opened in 1929.
By 1910, richly beautiful as it might seem on the surface, White Sulphur Springs faced financial disaster, still plagued by long-ago investments in Confederate bonds. Its white knight was the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad (now CSX Transportation, and still the owner), which bought the spa for only $150,000.
The Greenbrier was born in 1913--a 250-room Georgian structure adjacent to the Old White, with a Bath Wing soon added. By 1922, the Old White was demolished as a safety hazard. In the early 1930s, The Greenbrier became a 600-room hotel with addition of the North, South and Virginia wings and expansion of the main building.
The 1929 stock-market crash threw The Homestead into bankruptcy, but, thanks to astute management, it emerged as its old shining self.
At the beginning of World War II, both The Homestead and The Greenbrier were internment centers for enemy diplomats. The Homestead would also host 1943's landmark United Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture.
Reprising its Civil War role, The Greenbrier became a military hospital. On Sept. 1, 1942, the U.S. Army commandeered The Greenbrier and purchased it from the C&O. It became Ashford General Hospital.
After the war, the C&O repurchased The Greenbrier and once again saved it from an uncertain fate. Completely restored and redecorated, the resort had a grand opening in 1948 that brought hundreds of celebrities and social elites from all over the world.
Celebrities and the springs seem to have been made for one another, beginning with Thomas Jefferson at Warm Springs and Hot Springs and Henry Clay at White Sulphur Springs. Through the centuries, these famous visitors have ranged from U.S. presidents and foreign monarchs to sports figures and entertainers. The Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, visited White Sulphur in 1860, coming incognito as "Baron Renfrew."
But none could match the opulent lifestyle of Edward's grandson, the Duke of Windsor, and his duchess, who were frequent guests at both resorts. For a month's visit to The Homestead, they arrived with 12 servants, three truckloads of luggage, and so much jewelry it had to be stored in the hotel's main vault.
Club Resorts, a specialist in historic resort restoration, acquired and completely restored The Homestead in l993. Lavish elegance coupled with aristocratic charm describes today's Greenbrier and Homestead. All the amenities of luxury living are present, from spas and championship golf courses to gourmet fare in grand dining rooms.
Lavish though the present may be, the past is not forgotten. Among the most cherished traditions at both The Greenbrier and The Homestead is afternoon tea, served with all the Victorian elegance of the 19th century.
The General and Mrs. Lee would feel very much at home.
BARBARA CROOKSHANKS is a free-lance writer living in Fredericksburg.
