Museum of the Berkeley Springs
The second floor of the historic Roman Bath House, oldest public building in Berkeley Springs, is the Museum of the Berkeley Springs with exhibits on the natural and cultural history of springs and town. There are both permanent and changing exhibits. It was established in 1984 and is open regularly in season.
The Roman Bath House is located at the Fairfax and Wilkes Street corner of the park. There are nine individual bathing chambers with tubs that hold 750 gallons of spring water heated to 102 degrees. The Roman Baths are open daily. The Roman Bath House was built in 1815 on the site of an earlier bathhouse often attributed to James Rumsey and possibly used by Washington.
Click image for pdf of interpretive sign.
Sketched in the diary of Samuel Vaughn, who visited the springs from June through September 1787, the first bath house included 5 baths “for company” measuring 5 feet by 8 feet each and that filled in five minutes and emptied in four. Made of wood, described as ill-fitting boards, it also had dressing rooms and both piazzas and alcoves with seats.