The Soaking Baths: Past and Present

Imagine the year is 1855 and you arrive to Capon Springs, a fashionable watering place during this time, by way of a four-horse stagecoach from Winchester, VA.  The 25-mile trip, which required crossing the creek numerous times, would have taken you four hours! You step out of the stagecoach and look up to admire the four story, grand Mountain House building which graced the property during the resort’s “Golden Age.” An advertisement during this time cited the Mountain House as, “one of the most magnificent structures in the country” with its large dining room (which could seat 600 guests), ballroom and portico with a 35 feet high ceiling supported on ten massive pillars.

Engraving of the Mountain House from a 1890-91 brochure.

You and your fellow guests have traveled here because you read in the National Intelligencer that, “the baths have no parallel in this country nor Europe.” Doctors and diplomats testified to their luxury and health benefits. Daniel Webster once wrote, “The Baths … are far superior to anything I have witnessed elsewhere in the country.”

A photo from the 1920s of the Bathing Establishment. Note the bath doors and the decorative railing across the front edge of the roof.

You make your way over to the “Bathing Establishment” or “Baths” (present-day Pavillion) and gaze across the beautiful colonnades which house 32 private baths—12 for ladies on the lower end and 20 for gentleman on the upper wing.  Before “taking the waters” you make an appointment with the Resident Physician, Dr. Witherstine.  Upon discussion of your ailments, he prescribes a specific course of treatment, ie temperature of the water, frequency and duration for your baths.  You pay 35 cents for a warm bath or 20 cents for a cold bath (natural spring temperature, 65 degrees).  Each bath is made of brick and is approximately 4 feet wide by 6 feet long by 5 feet deep.  (The frames of these baths still exist under the lower end of the building.)  After your warm bath, you retire to your room and rest for at least an hour, as recommended by the resident physician.

A photo taken of the remains of the original brick-style baths which were uncovered during a renovation of the President’s Cottage.

***

Fast forward 167 years, and folks are still traveling here for healing relief from pain and stress.  Today, Capon’s Hygeia Bath House & Spa remains a “spa” in the true sense of the word – a place where mildly alkaline spring water is used in Roman style soaking baths.  Although we no longer employ a resident physician, the experience of “taking the waters” is much the same as it was for bathers in the 1800s.  The soaking baths at the Hygeia were modeled after the original brick-style baths in the Bathing Establishment.  Descend down four steps into a tiled bath filled with 500 gallons of pure Capon Springs Water heated to a relaxing 102 degrees. Because the baths are filled, emptied and cleaned for each person, we do not have to treat the water with the chemicals most hot tubs require. The result: a hot, relaxing, pure Capon Springs Water bath without the chemical smell or feel.  Take a soak at the Hygeia Bath House & Spa and take a step back in time…  you will quickly understand why folks have been drawn to this special spot for over a hundred years!  To learn more about the spa and to book your relaxation time, please visit our website:  www.caponsprings.net/spa.

A present day photo of a soaking bath at the Hygeia Bath House & Spa