Botetourt Springs (originally: Sulphur Spring Tract) is a

mineral spring Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produce hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage un ...

and was a historical settlement on the border of

Roanoke County, Virginia Roanoke County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, its population was 96,929. Its county seat is Salem, but the county administrative offices are located in the census-designated place of ...

, and

Botetourt County, Virginia Botetourt County ( ) is a US county that lies in the Roanoke Region of Virginia. Located in the mountainous portion of the state, the county is bordered by two major ranges, the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains. Botetourt C ...

, United States. The spring is located from Fincastle. Botetourt Springs was originally settled in the mid-18th century, growing as a mineral spring resort during the summer, especially after the 1820s. In its time, it was one of the best known mineral springs in Virginia, and one of the chief sulfuric

thermal spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by cir ...

s in America. Notable visitors included

General Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

and

General Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

Geography

Botetourt Springs has two springs, one of sulfur and the other of

chalybeate Chalybeate () waters, also known as Iron oxide, ferruginous waters, are mineral spring waters containing salts of iron. Name The word ''chalybeate'' is derived from the Latin word for steel, , which follows from the Ancient Greek, Greek word ...

. An 1857 book mentioned that Botetourt Springs was a notable resort during the warmer months and that the springs contained magnesia,

sulfur Sulfur ( American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur ( Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms ...

and

carbonic acid Carbonic acid is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . The molecule rapidly converts to water and carbon dioxide in the presence of water. However, in the absence of water, it is quite stable at room temperature. The interconversion ...

History

The Carvin Lands on Carvin Creek was a 150-acre parcel granted to William Carvin in 1746. Carvin expanded the acreage and his son, William Carvin II, inherited the property. Edward Carvin inherited the Sulphur Springs homeplace and approximately 900 acres from his father, William Carvin II, in 1804. Edward sold the homeplace and 474 acres to Christian and Martin Wingart who sold the land to Charles Johnston in two transactions between 1818 and 1826. Around 1820, Johnston built a hotel and cottages around the spring, naming it Botetourt Springs after the county in which it was located.

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

was a visitor, as was

in 1824. With the increase in travel on the road west, the hotel and its springs stayed popular through the 1830s. Johnston died in 1833 and was buried on the property. By 1839, with the opening of other hotels in the area, the popularity of Botetourt Springs ebbed and it was closed in 1839. Johnston's nephew, Edward Johnston, bought the property and converted the hotel to a school, the Roanoke Female Seminary. This seminary was unsuccessful. In 1842, the property, including the buildings and 600 acres, was purchased by an agent for Valley Union Seminary, a Baptist organization. The seminary, founded in the same year, became

Hollins University Hollins University is a private university in Hollins, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1842 as Valley Union Seminary in the historical settlement of Botetourt Springs, Virginia, Botetourt Springs, it is Timeline of women's colleges in the Un ...

. William Carver's spring house still stands on the property. By 1873, Botetourt Springs had a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

. It was accessible by travelling nine miles on a turnpike that led from the

Virginia and Tennessee Railroad The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad was an historic gauge railroad in the Southern United States, much of which is incorporated into the modern Norfolk Southern Railway. It played a strategic role in supplying the Confederacy during the American ...

. Today, it is part of the suburb of Oldfields in northern

Roanoke Roanoke may refer to: Places *Roanoke Colony, a former English colony that mysteriously disappeared *Roanoke Island, the location of the Roanoke colony in present-day North Carolina *Roanoke River, flowing through Virginia and North Carolina and ...

Notable people

* William Henry Roberts (1847-1919), missionary in Burma

References

External links

Maplandia
{{authority control Former populated places in Virginia Geography of Roanoke County, Virginia Bodies of water of Roanoke County, Virginia Springs of Virginia