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History · Hot Springs

Hot Springs’ post office opened in 1809, and 41% of its homes were built before 1940

7 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Homestead, The, a National Historic Landmark. Below: 10 old photos and papers and maps from 1920 on.

1809first post office
7on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hot Springs’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hot Springs began

When was Hot Springs founded?

1809

The Hot Springs post office opened in 1809, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 524217 years
Founding year: the first Hot Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hot Springs’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A National Historic Landmark7 places on the National Register, including Homestead, The, a National Historic Landmark.Lost villages6 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1809: 217 years of Hot Springs.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

7 historic places in Hot Springs

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
7
National Historic Landmark
1
Homestead, The
historic buildings protected
33
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Homestead, The
Yard, TheGarth NewelBarton LodgeSwitchback SchoolAshwood SchoolReveilleHomestead, The, built 1892★
Buildings★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Georgian Revival1
Colonial Revival1
Tudor Revival1
★ Landmark
Homestead, TheGeorgian Revival · Built 1892
Yard, TheTudor Revival
Garth NewelBuilding
Barton LodgeBuilding
Switchback SchoolBuilding
Ashwood SchoolBuilding
All 7 listings
ReveilleBuilding · listed 2021

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Old corners

Hot Springs’s post office has been open since 1809.

Hamlets and corners on the map
CrowdertownDunnsMidwayMitchelltownSwitch BackThomastown

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Timeline

Hot Springs, 1809 to 1994

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1809Post officeThe Hot Springs post office opens
  3. 1890In the archiveVirginia Hot Springs, Va., the Homestead
  4. 1892BuiltHomestead, The is built
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900In the archiveSoda Spring
  7. 1940Born hereJ. C. Snead is born here
  8. 1991LandmarkHomestead, The named a National Historic Landmark
  9. 1994Born hereJailyn Ford is born here
The story

How Hot Springs came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hot Springs.

Read it all →

Since at least the mid-18th century, travelers came to use the springs. Thomas Bullitt built the first inn to accommodate them in 1766 and Dr. Thomas Goode later expanded it. The most prominent modern resort, The Homestead, traces its origin to this inn. Mustoe House, The Yard, Barton Lodge, Switchback School, and Garth Newel are also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1943, during World War II, The Homestead hosted a United Nations conference which implemented the foundation of Food and Agriculture Organization.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Hot Springs, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1900s10 items
Virginia Hot Springs, Va., the Homestead1890Virginia Hot Springs, Va., the HomesteadJapanese tea room, Homestead Hotel, Virginia Hot Springs1890Japanese tea room, Homestead Hotel, Virginia Hot Spri…Birds-eye View, Virginia1898Birds-eye View, VirginiaSoda Spring1900Soda SpringThe Homestead1900The HomesteadClubhouse and tennis courts, the Homestead, Virginia Hot Springs1900Clubhouse and tennis courts, the Homestead, Virginia …Pool and spring, The Homestead1900Pool and spring, The HomesteadPool and spring, The Homestead1900Pool and spring, The HomesteadThe garden, The Homestead1900The garden, The HomesteadJapanese sun parlor1900Japanese sun parlor
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Every building

Hot Springs, building by building, 1920

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Hot Springs fire insurance map, 1920, sheet 11920Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Virginia Hot Springs, Va., the Homestead
Retake this viewVirginia Hot Springs, Va., the Homestead, 1890

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hot Springs’ page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Hot Springs

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
J
J. C. SneadProfessional golfer, minor league baseball play… · b. 1940
Jailyn FordSoftball player · b. 1994
Help out

Finish Hot Springs’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewVirginia Hot Springs, Va., the Homestead: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Hot Springs’ history

What year was Hot Springs founded?

The Hot Springs post office opened in 1809, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Hot Springs?

7 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Homestead, The (a National Historic Landmark since 1991). 33 historic buildings in all.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (9), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (7), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.