Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

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Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open to research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Craig Healing Springs Letters, Ms1990-078, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The Craig Healing Springs Letters were donated to Special Collections and University Archives in 1990.

Processing Information

The processing and description of the Craig Healing Springs Letters commenced and was completed in September, 2022.

Administrative History

Located approximately 10 miles west of New Castle (Craig County), Virginia, Craig Healing Springs joined a number of other area health resorts that gained renown in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for the professed healing properties of their mineral waters. The presence of "yellow spring waters" in the property was documented as early as 1796, but the remoteness of the springs hindered commercial development for nearly a century. Around 1885, a hotel was built on the property (though newspapers of the day indicate that the springs offered accommodations to visitors at least a year prior to the hotel's construction). Soon afterward, Martin Hoffman purchased the property from 11 fellow investors and christened the property "All Healing Springs." The springs benefited from the extension of rail travel to nearby New Castle; large-scale development and incoporation of the resort by the Craig Healing Springs Company occurred in 1909. The resort remained a popular destination through the early decades of the 20th century, but as with many other such resorts, the Craig's business declined in the years following World War II. In 1960, the property was purchased as a retreat and conference center by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Virginia.

Scope and Content

This collection contains correspondence of Craig Healing Springs, a health resort located in Craig County, Virginia. The collection contains typescript carbon copies of letters dictated between May 3 and July 17, 1924, most by the resort's manager (G. B. Braswell) in response to inquiries. In most cases, the incoming letter is glued to the back of the outgoing response. The collection is comprised of 75 letters, nearly all consisting of routine inquiries regarding accommodation rates, descriptions of the property, transportation to the resort, curative properties of the waters, requests for promotional booklets, and prices on bottled water from the springs. Among the more noteworthy pieces of correspondence: an inquiry written on a postcard picturing Earnest Williams Viaduct of Lynchburg, Virginia; exchanges of letters with the Hotel Ponce de Leon of Roanoke, Virginia, and Buffalo Lithia Springs, Virginia; an inquiry from Mattie L. Stieff of Dunbar, Virginia, regarding the accommodation of African American resort guests and employment of African American resort staff; a request for reduced rates from Mrs. J. E. Townes of Salem, Virginia; and plans for a Virginia Press Association dinner at the resort.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Craig County (Va.)
• Health
• Local/Regional History and Appalachian South

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the Craig Healing Springs [Craig County, Virginia] Letters by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).