Two years too long. Having last been to Monroe County for my birthday in 2020, two years away has felt like too long for me. Going north this time instead of south, my drive took me up through Salt Sulphur Springs for the first time. Popular with people from South Carolina during the nineteenth century, the once famous healing waters for which this resort was named stopped flowing when an owner hoped to increase the volume with dynamite. Yet, aside from Sweet Springs, "the Salt" is perhaps the best collection of buildings still surviving from the antebellum Springs of Virginia. Maybe even more so than the Sweet.
While the brick hotel and cottages at ol' Sweet Springs were converted to a sanitarium and nursing home, the even older structures at Salt Sulphur Springs have been occupied as a private residence most recently. For this reason, much of its character survives because they have not been seriously gutted for conversion. Its rock-built hotel was one of the earliest constructed and contributing accessories include the springhouse, cottages, store, and chapel. They collectively date between the 1820s and 1830s. Although I was unable to go inside the main building, its chapel has been maintained as a place of worship with the door simply latched shut. A framed note inside indicates that it was used for episcopal services followed by Presbyterians and other denominations. Over time, the unconsecrated hall has also been used for shows, concerts, and festivals.
Admittedly, the comforts of Salt Sulphur Springs appear to have been rather spartan. The plaster walls were plain, lacking ornamentation or any detail, and the original pews were crude. Near impossible to photograph due to its rugged valley landscape, the natural gray-blue and brown stones were nonetheless charming due to this. I felt like I had stumbled upon a very ancient place lost in time- and I had.
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