Cooperative Living May 2023 - 8

FIELD TRIP
West Virginia
Virginia
How Sweet It Was
by Laura Emery S taff Writer
Restoring a fabled piece of American history
I
f a historic property could ever conjure up images of days
gone by, it is Sweet Springs Resort Park in eastern Monroe
County, W. Va.
In your mind's eye, you can almost hear the swooshing of
elegant gowns as women twirled across the floors of the grand
" Old Sweet " hotel during its heyday, the 1820s
up until the Civil War.
The place was so grand that eight of the
first 10 U.S. presidents reportedly stayed on
the property.
" The history is remarkable, " says Arietta
DuPre, a volunteer for the Sweet Springs
Resort Park Foundation, which now runs
and operates the historic property located in
Craig-Botetourt Electric Cooperative's service
area. The park is on the National Register of
Historic Places, and the Foundation has extensive plans
to renovate the vast estate and bring it back to life.
But, first, they seek to fully understand the history of
the place.
" We know it was initially all about the springs, " DuPre says.
NATIVE AMERICAN ROOTS
Before the allure of high-society gatherings brought the
who's who of America to the estate, it was the allure of the
area's seven mineral springs that inspired the property's
development.
The springs' water emerges from the ground at 73 degrees
year-round and contains a concentration of iron and carbon
dioxide. It's reported that the Trans-Allegheny natives used
6 ● Cooperative Living ●
May 2023
the area for medicinal and birthing purposes due to the spring
waters that they believed had " healing " powers.
William Lewis, a Revolutionary War veteran, saw the warm
water pools as a way to draw people to the underdeveloped area.
So, in 1792, he built a resort centered around the springs and
erected the first hotel on the property.
The hotel, called " Old Sweet, " was run by the
Lewis family until 1852. " John lost the property
due to debts to Oliver Beirne and others. During
the beginning of Oliver's ownership, a new
'hotel' was built consisting of individual cabins, "
DuPre explains.
Later, Beirne enlisted the services of Thomas
Jefferson to design a " new " hotel for Sweet
Springs. Plans were completed before Jefferson's
death in 1826, says DuPre, so construction on
the 90,000-square-foot building began in 1834 and was
completed in 1839.
The Jefferson-designed hotel featured full brick construction
with three monumental tetrastyle-pedimented Tuscan porticoes
above the arcade. There was a massive 160-foot-long elegant
dining room, and drawing rooms and grand dancing rooms were
located at both ends of the first floor.
STARTING OVER
In 1852, the resort was sold and operated under a succession of
owners until 1945 when the state of West Virginia purchased the
property and established the Andrew S. Rowan Memorial Home.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970
and underwent a major renovation between 1972 and 1975.
co-opliving.com
PHOTO BY STEVE BURKERER
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living May 2023

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