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History · Warm Springs

Warm Springs’ post office opened in 1877, and 88% of its homes were built before 1940

7 places in town are on the National Register, among them four historic districts with 208 buildings between them. Below: 5 old photos and papers and maps from 1926 on.

1877first post office
7on the National Register
88%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Warm Springs’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Warm Springs began

When was Warm Springs founded?

1877

The Warm Springs post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 121149 years
Founding year: the first Warm Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Warm Springs’ past

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

A historic districtThe Warm Springs and West Warm Springs Historic District takes in 200 historic buildings.Old housesHalf of Warm Springs’ homes were built before 1938.Landmarks on the Register7 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

7 listings protect 223 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
7
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
223
each building in a district counts
first listed
1989
Warm Springs Mill
Warm Springs MillHomestead Dairy BarnsOakley FarmThree HillsWesley, John, Methodist Episcopal Church and CemeteryWarm Springs BathhousesWarm Springs and West Warm Springs Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival2
Heavy Timber Construction1
Bungalow/Craftsman1
Federal1
Greek Revival1
Warm Springs MillHeavy Timber Construction
Homestead Dairy BarnsColonial Revival
Oakley FarmFederal
Three HillsBuilding
Wesley, John, Methodist Episcopal Church and CemeteryBuilding
Warm Springs BathhousesDistrict
All 7 listings
Warm Springs and West Warm Springs Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2018

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

The story so far

Warm Springs, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Warm Springs yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Warm Springs is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Bath County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2020 census was 121. It lies along U.S. Route 220 near the center of the county. Warm Springs includes the historical mill town called Germantown. To the west lies West Warm Springs.

Its first post office opened in 1877. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 123 in 2010, 121 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Warm Springs, 1877 to 1926

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1877Post officeThe Warm Springs post office opens
  3. 1898In the archiveWarm Springs Valley from Mt. Ingalls, Va. Hot Springs, Va
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900In the archiveChrist Church
  6. 1926On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Warm 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–1900s5 items
Warm Springs Valley from Mt. Ingalls, Va. Hot Springs, Va1898Warm Springs Valley from Mt. Ingalls, Va. Hot Springs…Christ Church1900Christ ChurchHotel1904Hotel[Street View] Warm Springs, Virginia1904[Street View] Warm Springs, VirginiaCountry Home1907Country Home
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
Today6 recent
Warm Springs, Virginia2017Warm Springs, VirginiaWarm Springs post office 244842017Warm Springs post office 24484Warm Springs former Episcopal church2017Warm Springs former Episcopal churchWarm Springs Mill from northwest2017Warm Springs Mill from northwestBath County war memorial2017Bath County war memorialBath County Courthouse2017Bath County Courthouse
On the map

Warm Springs on the map, 1926 to 1999

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Warm Springs. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Warm Springs on the 1926 USGS mapWarm Springs on the 1930 USGS mapWarm Springs on the 1946 USGS mapWarm Springs on the 1968 USGS mapWarm Springs on the 1999 USGS map1926Warm Springs sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Warm Springs.

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.

Warm Springs Valley from Mt. Ingalls, Va. Hot Springs, Va
Retake this viewWarm Springs Valley from Mt. Ingalls, Va. Hot Springs, Va, 1898

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Warm Springs

Nobody well known was born in Warm Springs itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Pearl S. BuckChinese women Nobel Prize winner, author, teach… · b. 1892
Pat RobertsonAmerican media mogul and minister · b. 1930
C
Cy TwomblyAmerican painter, sculptor and photographer · b. 1928
Hilary HahnAmerican classical violinist · b. 1979
S
Sally MannAmerican photographer · b. 1951
G
Gary JenningsAmerican novelist · b. 1928
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Warm Springs’s post office has been open since 1877.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Germantown
Gone or out of use
Warm Springs Elementary Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Warm Springs
Warm Springs

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

Help out

Finish Warm 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 viewWarm Springs Valley from Mt. Ingalls, V…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Warm Springs’ history

What year was Warm Springs founded?

The Warm Springs post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Warm Springs?

7 listings: 3 buildings and 4 historic districts with 208 contributing buildings. 223 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 (7), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (7), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.