Yes, you read it right: there’s a tiny town on the northeastern border of West Virginia that can honestly claim to be George Washington’s preferred spot to soak in some suds. With an arts scene that rivals America’s largest cities, and the world’s premier water tasting competition, there’s a lot to see from a warm tub in Berkeley Springs.
As West Virginia’s first arts certified town, Berkeley Springs lives up to its lofty title as a hotbed for arts of all kinds, including fine arts, theater and music. Visit Berkeley Springs State Park in the summer to catch Art in the Park, a semi regular sale of local and regional artists works. The Park is also the location of for Morgan Arts Council's annual Summer Concert Series.
Downtown on Washington Street, art thrives year-round at venues that tout their own unique flair. >Star Theatre shows one movie at a time and pops a signature popcorn recipe in a six-foot tall machine from 1949. Handcrafted jewelry, glassworks and metal sculptures are for sale at >Mountain Laurel Gallery, while original prints and paintings from a local artist family are on display at >Heath Studio Gallery. All in all, this less-than-a-square-mile town is a central location for the county's over 125 working artists.
But before Berkeley Springs became known for its artist-friendly attitude, it was a favorite spot of none other than President Washington himself. While visiting the town in 1748 at age 16, the first president jotted down a note in his journal about what he called “Ye Fam’d Warm Springs.” The invitingly warm H2O had quite an impression on our nation’s young forefather. His bathing visits occured before his presidency, but years later he stopped by Berkeley Springs on his way to the Whiskey Rebellion, bolstering the town’s reputation as a favorite retreat.
Today at Berkeley Springs State Park, you can stop by George Washington's Bathtub, a small stone structure that, weirdly to both our relief and disappointment, is not actually GW’s former spot for getting squeaky clean, but a modern recreation of the tubs that he and other visitors used during their 18th century visits. While you’re there, you can experience what made the president so fond of this West Virginia town yourself by taking a Roman bath in a 750-gallon tub of fresh mineral water heated to 102 degrees.
With presidential bathing quarters to galleries brimming with local art, Berkeley Springs is just another reason why we love the Mountain State!
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