Bath County Historical Society

Bath County Historical Society "Preserving Bath County's Past For Generations to Come"
99 Courthouse Hill Warm Springs, Virginia 2 The office staff is comprised of volunteers.

The Bath County Historical Society was formed in 1969 to preserve the history of Bath County for future generations to come. The Historical Society Museum and Research Library is located in Warm Springs, Virginia next to the Bath County Courthouse. The Museum building was originally a law office which was moved from the original courthouse located at the current Warm Springs Inn. The items in the

Museum have all been donated by friends of the Society who want to see Bath County history preserved for future generations. These artifacts are of interest to all those who visit, not only the local people, but visitors from all over the world. From antique side saddles, to period clothing, original historic photos, farm implements and tools, Civil War and Indian Artifacts, even a grand piano, there is something here to interest everyone. The Research Center and Library addition was completed in 1995 and contains a wealth of information for the researcher and genealogist. Included in the collection are materials and microfilm on Bath and Virginia history as well as information from West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. These along with family histories, both published and unpublished, have aided many visitors in their search for roots. The Society Gift Corner includes books pertaining to Bath County and area history as well as other seasonal items for purchase. They will assist you in your search for local or family histories. The museum's hours are 10am - 4pm on the following schedule:

April - October: Wednesday - Saturday
November & December: Friday & Saturday
January, February & March: Closed, but call or email for advance appointment

Admission is free. Donations are greatly appreciated to offset operational expenses. The Society publishes newsletters each year to our membership. Histories of Bath County as well as family genealogies and queries are often included in each issue. Membership is open to anyone interested in being a part of this valuable preservation effort for an annual donation of $25.00 or more, per person. A call for donations goes out in August, followed by a Patrons Party at an historic venue in September to which all active donors are invited. You are invited to stop by and explore the history of our mountain villages and its people and discover life the way it used to be. Local school groups are also invited.

06/02/2026
05/30/2026

Join us as we celebrate National Preservation Month.
We’re taking time to highlight the places throughout Bath County that help tell the story of our community—its history, resilience, and evolution through generations. From schools and churches to homes and public spaces, these landmarks connect us to the people and moments that shaped the region we know today.

Next up - Oakley Farm
VLR Listing Date | 06/06/2007
NRHP Listing Date | 08/08/2007

Oakley Farm is a property of considerable architectural and historical interest located in Bath County, on the edge of Warm Springs. The main house, known as Oakley, is a Federal- and Greek Revival-style brick residence built for plantation owner and second Bath County clerk of court Charles L. Francisco in the mid-1830s. Land for the present Bath County Courthouse, and much of the south end of the village of Warm Springs, was carved out of Oakley Farm.

The property was acquired in 1905 by Tate Sterrett, livery manager for the nearby nationally famous resort, The Homestead. Sterrett operated Oakley as a country dining establishment and recreational destination for guests at the county’s resorts. The house passed to Sterrett’s son, Tate Boys Sterrett, who, with his wife Hazel Marshall Sterrett, completed a Colonial Revival remodeling in 1921–22, according to a design apparently conceived by the Staunton architectural firm T. J. Collins and Sons. Numerous 19th- and early 20th-century supporting buildings, of both agricultural and residential nature, survive on the Oakley Farm property, with a portion of the 1830s Jackson River Turnpike.

Thanks for including this location on your site!
📸 Debra McClane | 2017

05/30/2026

Join us as we celebrate National Preservation Month.
We’re taking time to highlight the places throughout Bath County that help tell the story of our community—its history, resilience, and evolution through generations. From schools and churches to homes and public spaces, these landmarks connect us to the people and moments that shaped the region we know today.

Next up! Reveille
VLR Listing Date | 03/18/2021
NRHP Listing Date | 05/03/2021

Reveille, now known as Quarry Hill, is a masterwork designed in 1928 by architect Carl Max Lindner, Sr., to serve as a second home for Judge William Clark and his wife, Marjory Blair Clark. The French Renaissance-style house, a one-and-a-half-story, stucco-clad brick and stone dwelling, stands above the village of Hot Springs in Bath County, and adjacent to the resort Homestead Hotel property. Reveille offered the Clarks, who resided in Princeton, N.J., a summer residence with an advantageous location for entertaining and socializing with Homestead guests and other visitors to the Warm Springs Valley. That the Clarks intended the house should serve for entertaining is underscored by the inclusion on the second floor of five bedrooms for maids.

Lindner, well known for his many Tudor and Georgian revival–style designs of Richmond apartments and houses, likely executed with Reveille his only French Renaissance or French country-style residence. Typical of his work in other styles, Reveille exhibits Lindner’s attention to the scale, massing, form, building materials, and details that make the house an outstanding work of revival-style architecture. Less formal than the Chateau-style of architecture, the French country home retained formal spaces, separated public and private sections, and incorporated discreet areas for domestic servants and daily household activities. Reveille also reflects the influence of the Beaux Arts movement and classical Renaissance detailing. Complementing Reveille’s architecture are the refined but modest formal gardens and terraces surrounding the house that landscape architect Charles Freeman Gillette designed. Gillette’s garden forms, balustraded walls, stone steps, and other details remain intact.

Marjory Clark likely chose Reveille’s architectural style. Her family home, Blairsden (1898), is an elaborate 38-room French Chateau-style mansion in New Jersey that her father, wealthy investment banker C. Ledyard Blair, commissioned from the prominent Beaux Arts architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings. Although a modest reflection of the larger New Jersey home, the authentic French inspiration found at Reveille, as well as many of the decorative features of the interior, are attributable to Marjory Clark’s influence and refined tastes. Married in 1913, the Clarks divorced in 1947. Their ownership of Reveille ended in 1944.

Thanks for including this location on your site!
📸 Debra McClane | DHR 2020

05/26/2026

Address

99 Courthouse Hill Rd
Warm Springs, VA
24484

Opening Hours

Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+15408392543

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