Life Downstream

Things are chaotic in so many ways right now. I think everyone would probably benefit from some blood pressure medication (but don’t take my word for it, I’m not that kind of doctor). Despite the chaos, my husband and I found one day, one night where we could escape our marathon work sessions. I feel like COVID-19 and working from home has actually generated more work for me, not less. I digress. Let’s go to Lewisburg, West Virginia!

I can’t bear to take the same route both ways in just about every context (unless I’m in a huge hurry). So to get down to Lewisburg we made stops in Buckhannon and Pickens. Not exactly the direct route. Buckhannon is home to West Virginia Wesleyan College, which is a lovely liberal arts college, and the Donut Shop. Wesleyan’s campus is bucolic and picturesque, but there is nothing like gobbling up a pepperoni roll in its melted cheese and crumbled pepperoni glory and a dozen or so donuts for good measure from the largely nondescript place.

And the French toast donut was, in fact, absolutely delicious

Next we decided to make our way from U.S. Route 119 to U.S. Route 2019 by taking Helvetia-Adolph Road. This meant we not only went through Helvetia, but decided to take a detour to Pickens. I am mildly obsesses with Pickens because it is less connected to the world now than it was 75 years ago—at least then they had road and rail access. While the town is small, it did have a post office, which is exactly what I needed to make a special delivery to one of my students.

The drive down U.S. Route 219 from Mill Creek to Lewisburg is every sportscar driver’s dream—and I’ve done it in a Miata and a Corvette. It isn’t quite the Tail of the Dragon, but there are a lot of exhilarating and technical curves that make you realize you were right for buying that sportscar—and then you get stuck behind a 1990 Silverado struggling up the grades and taking the curves extra slow. This happens at the Tail of the Dragon, too.

Lewisburg is one of four Certified Arts Towns in West Virginia, the others are Elkins, Wheeling, and Berkeley Springs—all of which are very worthy towns to spend a weekend in. Lewisburg is home to boutique shops, galleries, and delicious restaurants—and one of West Virginia’s three medical schools, the West Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine. There are artsy touches all over town, like this fire hydrant and a piano out in the open for anyone to play (I declined, I can’t say I have much musical talent).

Though my favorite place in Lewisburg is the General Lewis Inn. This boutique hotel offers not only incredible rooms, but an exquisite restaurant and real mixologists at the bar. On this stay we enjoyed the Garden Queen Room, which had a spacious seating area, perfect if traveling with friends or other couples for drinks, discussion, or even some card or board games.

Having a few hours before our dinner reservation, we strolled the main drag and poked our heads into the shops that were open. I scored an incredible western-themed sweater, a gift for one of my best friends, and an actual Canadian 1-dollar bill, these haven’t been in circulation since 1989. After some research on the internet, the bill may be worth a lot more than I paid for it. That is one of the benefits of shopping for regional products a long way from their “home”. I also picked up two old post cards from British Columbia that were mailed to West Virginia, complete with postmarks and personal notes on them. You never know what you might find!

It was a pleasant sight to see the General Lewis Inn after walking downtown

Neither of us could resist the promise of a perfectly cooked filet mignon in the Jefferson Dining Room and they did not disappoint, we followed our perfect steaks with a Louisiana Cadillac—a five-layer mousse cake, almond crisp, chocolate mousse, caramel, hazelnut streusel, and dark chocolate shards. I was so full it was almost painful to eat but my mouth enjoyed every single atom of that dessert.

After a long day, we turned in early. To return home to Morgantown we elected to follow U.S. Route 60 to Gauley Bridge, where we picked up W.V. Route 16 to Clay, where we took a right onto W.V. Route 4 (which follows the beautiful Elk River into Gassaway). By the time we made it to Sutton, however, we were ready for a high-speed burn up I-79.

In the mountains of the Virginias, there’s something in the water that has kept people coming back for centuries. It is widely believed that the different spring waters had healing properties that both prolonged and improved living conditions. Around many of these springs camps and resorts were developed. The two most lasting and successful springs resorts in the region are probably the Homestead (Hot Springs, VA) and the Greenbrier (White Sulphur Springs, WV). But in their heyday, there were probably a few hundred fledgling establishments trying to make a go of the mineral enriched waters.

All that remains of Blue Sulphur Springs is the springhouse itself. Sitting alone in pasturelands on a one-lane county road in Greenbrier County, WV it is difficult to imagine how it was. I visited the area with a friend recently and a wonderful coincidence enabled an up close experience that only increased our appreciation of this piece of West Virginia history.

The history of the Blue Sulphur Springs is detailed on this website, part of the University of Virginia’s Historical Collections at the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library. The following image shows a drawing of the resort published in 1857. On the left-hand side of the image is a small structure with columns flanked by trees on either side, I suspect that is the springhouse that is the only remaining structure. The road traveled by the stagecoach is most likely now County Road 25. Just beyond the image to the left is probably Kitchen Creek.

Edward Beyer’s print of Blue Sulphur Springs published in 1857, from UVA’s Historical Collections

Compare the drawing to the view from County Road 25 at present:

Earlier in 2013, Preservation WV listed the springhouse at Blue Sulphur on its most endangered property list. This has rekindled interest in the structure and work has begun to evaluuate the status of the structure and how to go about restoration.

While photographing the springhouse from the road, an elderly gentleman walked up to us and explained that he had just spoken with someone on the phone regarding the springhouse restoration and that he was going to take some measurements to help them work on the restoration project. He suggested that we might join him to help him with the measurements.

The ground is muddy. I was thankful for having waterproofed my shoes. We walked over to the springhouse and took every measurement you could imagine. During this process we learned more about the man who asked us to help. He moved to a farm just down the road when he was three years old. At 89 today, he’s spent most of his life in this quiet valley. He explained that when he was a kid he used to play in the old springhouse with his friends. It was in much better shape then and the ground inside was even tiled. This was a far cry than the structure we saw today.

The water actually has a blue tint

The foundation is in extremely poor condition

For more information on the Blue Sulphur Springs, the application for it's inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places has an excellent history.

If you ever visit this site, please be respectful of the structure and any signage or fencing. Take only pictures, leave only footprints--even if the nearest you can get is the shoulder of Co Rd 25.