Jefferson Mineral Pools

Title

Jefferson Mineral Pools

Artist

Karen Wiles

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

JEFFERSON MINERAL POOLS by KAREN WILES
I was lucky to visit the Jefferson Pools on a quiet morning before they opened so that I was able to capture this tranquil artwork of the interior area of the bathhouse, said to be the oldest still existing spa, but still full of beauty and serenity among her turquoise mineral spring waters. I found the inside to be totally quiet and could only hear the babbling water and my breathing. The acoustics inside were phenomenal.
I spoke with an elderly lady in her 90's who spoke of her younger days of "sneaking in" to the springs when she was young...She said, "until you had escaped from home in the middle of the night to swim in the Jefferson Pools, you hadn't lived as of yet... If only these old walls could talk..."
The Jefferson Pools, also called Warm Springs Bathhouses and Warm Springs Pools, are two spa structures near Warm Springs, Virginia. The name was changed in the 20th century from "Warm Spring Pools" to "Jefferson Pools". The spa is part of The Homestead Omni Resort Hotel near Hot Springs, Virginia.
The Gentlemen's Pool House is the oldest spa structure in the United States. The octagonal wood building was built in 1761. The spas are naturally fed by a 98 ￿F (37 ￿C) mineral spring. The men's spa holds 40,000 US gallons of constantly flowing water.
The Ladies' Pool House was built in 1836. The buildings have changed little over the years, being made of wood with a central pool and a roof that is open to the elements. There are small alcoves around the pool for clothes, and it is usual to bathe naked. Famous bathers include Thomas Jefferson,who spent three weeks in 1819 bathing three times day and described the waters in a letter to his daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph, as being of "first merit".
The site was listed as Warm Springs Bathhouses on the Virginia Landmarks Register on November 11, 1968 and the National Register of Historic Places on October 8, 1969.

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September 11th, 2015

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