The Capon Spring is one of eight known warm springs in West Virginia. It rises at the base of a huge vertical outcropping of Oriskany sandstone. The Spring located in Virginia until the state of West Virginia was formed in 1863, was one of the most popular springs in the Valley of Virginia and was believed to have health restoring powers. Its name is thought to be of Shawnee in origin, with spellings recorded as Cape-cape-pe-hon, Cacaphon, and Ca-ca-pa-on, meaning, “healing waters,” “medicine waters,” or “waters that heal.”

Henry Frye is credited with discovering the Spring around 1765. Although George Washington surveyed Hampshire County in 1750 for Lord Thomas Fairfax, apparently Washington did not know about the Spring since it was never mentioned in his journal. Local legend tells that Frye was hunting and killed a large bear on the side of the mountain near the Spring. He was thirsty and descended the glen in search of water, where he found a large spring. The next summer, he cleared out the spring and erected a small cabin where he and his wife, Fanny, stayed. Fanny was ill at the time and while at the Spring her health improved. Her improvement was attributed to the Spring’s healing powers. Although John Arnold of Frederick County owned the land around the Spring at the time (approximately 269 acres), the Spring became known for many years as Frye’s Spring.

In October 1787, by an act of the General Assembly of the State of Virginia, twenty acres of land around and including the Spring were laid off into lots and streets and the town of Watson was established. Watsontown was named for Joseph Watson who had been the Spring’s most recent owner. When Watson died without heirs the land reverted back to the state. The act also provided for a Board of Trustees.

By 1833, fueled by the Spring’s reputation for its medicinal qualities, the area had become a popular recreation spot. Virginia historian Samuel Kercheval wrote, “The place is too publicly known to require a minute description in this work; suffice it to say that it is located in a deep narrow glen on the west side of the Great North Mountain.” Kercheval also mentioned “17 or 18 houses” and “a boarding establishment capable of accommodating some 50 or 60 visitors, which is kept in excellent style.”

From the revenues raised from the sale of lots and taxes on visitors to the Spring, the Board of Trustees made improvements to the grounds and constructed a Spring Pavillion, Bath House and swimming pool. In 1849, a Baltimore firm, Ricards, Buck and Blakemore, purchased twelve lots for the purpose of building a large hotel. The Mountain House, built in 1850, measured 262 feet by 190 feet with 168 guest rooms. It was reported to be the largest spa hotel in the country, with a dining room advertised to seat six hundred guests. Daniel Webster gave the dedication at the grand opening held in June 1851.

The resort struggled to meet its financial obligations over the next few years. The Civil War years saw the resort all but closed. Both Union and Confederate troops occupied the area. Luckily, the resort escaped with only minor war damage.

In 1870, Capt. William Sale and William Frazier became proprietors. By 1875, Capt. Sale had purchased the Mountain House and bought out William Frazier to become sole proprietor. The “Golden Age” of Capon Springs and Baths had begun. For the next 25 years the area would grow and prosper. Sale bought hundreds of the surrounding acres and constructed several buildings.

After Sale’s death in 1900, his son-in-law, Charles Nelson, ran the resort. Nelson did not have the talent for running a resort that his father-in-law had had and he began to lose interest. Also, around the turn of the century, transportation began to improve, allowing vacationers more choices. The popularity of spring resorts started to decline. Economic depression began to take its toll. The Mountain House was also reportedly in disrepair. In 1911, it, the post office and general store were destroyed by fire. Nelson began selling off land to bring in money while at the same time looking for someone to buy the resort.

Finally in 1917, he closed a deal, selling the Capon Springs property to Will Atkinson. Atkinson and his brothers, George and Richard, continued to rent out some of the remaining resort buildings and set up a water bottling operation. In 1923, Louis L. Austin began working for the Atkinsons, distributing Capon Springs water in Philadelphia. Atkinson had grand plans to revitalize the resort in the form of a multi-million dollar establishment he called the Capon Springs Club. Despite his attempts, the Club never materialized, and by June 1932, he was unable to pay his debts. On July 9, 1932, at an auction at the Court House in Romney, WV, Lou Austin bought the Capon Springs Water Company which included the Spring, several hundred acres, the ruins of the old Mountain House, the swimming pool, several cottages and outbuildings. There was no electricity, virtually no running water and most of the buildings were considered unsalvageable by the engineer Lou had hired.

However, due to local, hard-working, capable people, many who lived in the Capon Hollow, the resort gradually began to show signs of life. The old buildings were shored up and patched. Additions were built, new buildings constructed. The ruins were cleared away and the grounds began to show signs of care. Old cow pastures were transformed into a golf course. During this transformation, Lou and his wife, Virginia often brought their friends to Capon for the weekend. While Lou continued his efforts to get the water business going, their friends continued to come to Capon for visits. Those friends told other friends who told other friends and slowly, through word of mouth, Capon began to grow and prosper. In 1994, the Capon Springs Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the grandchildren of Lou and Virginia Austin serve as caretakers and many of the staff are also descendants from those early Capon Hollow co-workers.