A natural hot springs resort in West Virginia almost became a tuberculosis sanitarium

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — West Virginia was full of natural hot springs resorts in the 1800s, including the now-ruined Red Sulphur Springs, which was purchased by a vice president and almost became a quarantine location for people with tuberculosis (TB).

Located in Monroe County, Red Sulphur Springs has mineral-rich waters that emerge from the ground at 54 degrees all year round. The water was red-tinted (hence the name) with bicarbonate, sulfate, and calcium, according to the West Virginia Encyclopedia (e-WV), and was used as a treatment for skin conditions and pulmonary diseases, including TB.

The site was developed in the early 1800s and was a resort from around 1820 until World War I. At its peak, it could accommodate up to 350 guests, according to the Historical Collections from the University of Virginia . Dr. William Burke who bought the springs in the 1830s and wrote the 394-page piece “The Mineral Springs of West Virginia” recorded that the springs could treat consumption, laryngitis, bronchitis, chronic pleurisy, pneumonia, hypertrophy of the heart, kidney and bladder diseases, menstrual disorders, liver diseases and chronic diarrhea. However, there was some doubt about the waters’ healing properties after another physician who was treated there in 1834 died.

Regardless, the resort did well until the Civil War when it—like other healing springs—became occupied by soldiers. But unlike other resorts, like Blue Sulphur Springs which all but ceased operation after the Civil War , Red Sulphur Springs continued and was purchased by U.S. Vice President Levi Morton in 1890.

According to the e-WV, Morton upgraded the property and then offered to sell the land to the state to use as a tuberculosis sanitarium in 1915, but the state rejected his offer, favoring the sanitarium it had already built in Preston County.

The buildings were dismantled in 1920, and photos from the land from 1964 on the West Virginia & Regional History Center archive show only ruins.

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