Hot Springs, Virginia

History

Since at least the mid-18th century, travelers came to use the springs. Thomas Bullitt built the first inn to accommodate them in 1766 and Dr. Thomas Goode later expanded it. The most prominent modern resort, The Homestead, traces its origin to this inn. Mustoe House, The Yard, Barton Lodge, Switchback School, and Garth Newel are also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1943, during World War II, The Homestead hosted a United Nations conference which implemented the foundation of Food and Agriculture Organization.

From December 1941 until June 1942, following the United States' entry into World War II, the Homestead served as a high-end internment camp for 785 Japanese diplomats and their families until they could be exchanged through neutral channels for their American counterparts. The diplomats were later transferred to the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia.

Hot Springs was once the terminus of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad's Hot Springs Branch, which extended from Covington in Alleghany County to Hot Springs in large part passenger service to serve the resort in Hot Springs, though other customers were served, including lumber companies. There was a turntable in Hot Springs that reversed the train for the return trip back. The C&O once considered extending the line into West Virginia to serve the logging industry, but decided to build its Greenbrier Division in West Virginia instead.

By 1975, the C&O abandoned the branch line, and a tourist railroad, the Allegany Central, was to start. However, the Homestead resort decided it no longer wanted the railroad or the tourist line to extend to Hot Springs, so the rails were torn up to the Bath County line. In 1984, the tourist railroad ended and a rail trail, Jackson River Scenic Trail was subsequently built on the line in Alleghany County but was not extended by Bath County to Hot Springs to follow the full length of C&O's Hot Springs Branch. One of the original steam engines that served the Hot Springs Branch is preserved in Covington, Virginia.

Climate

Hot springs has a humid continental climate of type (Dfb) bordering on type (Dfa). It also borders on a humid subtropical climate (Cfa). |Jan record high F = 73 |Feb record high F = 77 |Mar record high F = 83 |Apr record high F = 89 |May record high F = 94 |Jun record high F = 97 |Jul record high F = 99 |Aug record high F = 100 |Sep record high F = 95 |Oct record high F = 90 |Nov record high F = 79 |Dec record high F = 75 |year record high F = 100 |Jan record low F = −20 |Feb record low F = −14 |Mar record low F = -2 |Apr record low F = 10 |May record low F = 18 |Jun record low F = 25 |Jul record low F = 35 |Aug record low F = 32 |Sep record low F = 22 |Oct record low F = 14 |Nov record low F = 0 |Dec record low F = −20 |year record low F = -20 | access-date = July 1, 2021}} | access-date = July 1, 2021}}

Demographics

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2010 2020

Hot Springs was first listed as a census designated place in the 2010 U.S. census.

References

References

1. [https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALPL2020.P1?q=hot%20springs,%20va&y=2020&d=DEC%20Redistricting%20Data%20(PL%2094-171) Hot Springs CDP, Virginia - Census Bureau Tables.] United States Census Bureau. Accessed 2024-11-06.
2. {{NRISref
3. (2013-06-28). "National Register of Historic Places Listings". National Park Service.
4. (2014-01-03). "National Register of Historic Places Listings". National Park Service.
5. "United Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture: Hot Springs, Virginia, May 18-June 3, 1943 : final act and section reports".
6. "The founding of FAO".
7. "The Homestead: A Great Hotel Entertains Jap Diplomats as a Patriotic Duty," Life Magazine, 1942-02-16, at p. 68.
8. (2010). "World War II Detention of Diplomats & Families". Presbyterian Heritage Center at Montreat.
9. Stewart, William H.. (2012). "Diplomats, Disputes & Deceit World War II's First Exchange of Enemy Diplomats". NCC Consulting.
10. "Chesapeake and Ohio Railway".
11. [[Allegany Central Railroad]]
12. "A Visit to West Virginia".
13. "Decennial Census by Decade".
14. "2010 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Virginia".