In the 1840's in an area called Devil's Den, a series of sulphur springs were discovered. Springs in Virginia often meant resorts, which translated into money. Soon it was capitalized on, and White Sulphur Springs resort was built by the sulphur springs. The resort flourished to say the least. The guest registry, still in existance, shows that nearly every notable Virginian stayed there at some point. When the War Between the States broke out, the resort stayed successful, as many of the soldiers families went to the resort as a retreat from wartime Virginia. Many of the Civil War officer's families stayed here, including Robert E. Lee's.
However, things soon changed. Many thought the war would be quick and temporary, not the 4 years of bloody conflict. The resort was converted into a hospital. Since this area of Virginia did not see much battle, it was primarily used for soldiers with disease. Since nurses were in short supply, Catholic nuns were sent from South Carolina to staff the hospital. On the official records, around 260 soldiers died there. However, theories are now proving that number to be at least 800.
The end of the war saw much change in Virginia. The resort did re-open, although after much needed renovations. The resort once again flourished. One of the allure of sulphur springs, was that the mineral rich water was a cure for many common ailments of the day. However, during the 1875-1900 time period, the advent of more drugs that were available to the public, people no longer needed to travel long distances to spring resorts. None the less, the resort remained a popular destination.
It could be called the birthplace of Virginia Tech. When the Virginia Mechanical and Agricultural College was in its early days of formation, many of the organizational meetings were held in the boardroom at the White Sulphur Springs resort. It is a fact, that the first motion to change the name of the college to Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute, was in the same boardroom. Though the name was not changed to Virginia Polytechnic Institute until 1944, this was certainly a step towards this change.
It is fascinating what happened at the resort. Even more, that it doesnt exist anymore. Around 1900, a flood caused the springs to stop flowing, at least for a while. This stopped the few visitors of the resort. A short time later, the final chapter was wrote for the resort, when a fire destroyed the remains of the resort. No trace of the resort remains, except the graves of the fallen soldiers. Soldiers died here from every state of the Confederacy. There is one confirmed cemetery found, and three more to go. There is a mass grave, that was used for solldiers that died from Smallpox, and a colored cemetery, and several of the nuns died during the course of the war, they are buried here as well.
Hiking around the area, one quickly finds out the springs are active again. Areas appear very swampy, and in some places, water is six inches deep, and the spring causes almost a quicksand like efect, with the dirt. One must take care with these areas, as they are frequent around the site. The location of the first cemetery is on private property, and the location will be kept unknown to the public, for respect to the soldiers and landowners. Of the hundreds of graves, only five are marked. There is much, much more to do at WSS, including more graves to find, and a satellite mapping project.
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