VA-D36 Early Bath County Courthouses

Marker text: EARLY BATH COUNTY COURTHOUSES

Bath County was formed in 1790 from parts of Augusta, Botetourt, and Greenbrier counties. The county court first met here on 10 May 1791 at the house of John Lewis's widow Margaret, who donated two acres opposite the mineral baths for public use. The log jail, built in 1792, and the one-story stone courthouse, constructed in 1796, became inadequate by the 1830s. Citizen petitions to the General Assembly to move the court to nearby Germantown (present-day Warm Springs) or north to Cleek's Mill failed. Instead, the dilapidated buildings were replaced with these brick structures in 1842. The court finally moved to Germantown in 1908 and the old site was advertised for sale as "ideally located for a fine Hotel at this wonderful watering place."

Department of Historic Resources, 1994