The library, featuring lots of places to sit, lots of books to read, a fireplace, games to play.
Years ago, I did a field school project for school where I visited historic spring-based resorts in Southern West Virginia and wrote recommendations on how to best use, preserve, and promote these historic resources (most of them underused, with the exception of the Greenbrier.) Some of the other students had other projects in the area, so we all traveled down together.
We stayed at Pence Springs, a historic resort with a fantastic history. The resort started out as a place for people to enjoy the healing spring waters, fell on hard times during the depression, became an all-girls boarding school, and when that too failed, became a WOMEN’S PRISON, which it remained for many years. When that closed, it was abandoned for a very long time, until it was rescued and restored, back into a resort. It was bought and sold a few times. Alas, now the (huge) property has been split up, and the hotel building itself is a private boarding school, no trespassing!
This makes me very upset, because I can truly say it was one of the nicest, most beautiful, most relaxing, fantastic experiences I have ever had, and it breaks my heart that I can’t go stay there again.
Oh, by the way, I did try the water while I was there. It was very sulfurous, but I would say it was slightly invigorating! They had a cooler in the lobby that was filled with water from the spring for patrons to drink/try.
See the rest of my pics from this wonderful place!: flickr.com/photos/nessachan/tags/pencesprings/
