Rockbridge Alums Springs, Rockbridge County, Virginia cabinet card, snapshot, copy print photos, and color post cards, 1858/1930

Containers:

Box 10, Folder 32

Scope and content:

The photos in this folder are as follows"

A black and white copy print photo of Edward Beyer's 1858 lithograph of the Rockbridge Alumn Spring resort and countryside, courtesy of The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Virginia.

Two circa 1900 cabinet card photos, one of which is of the spring house with a group of people and a dog, and the other a view of the Kentucky Row cottages with a family, servants, and a dog.

Eleven circa 1930 color post cards, published by the McCrum Drug Store, Lexington, Virginia. They include as follows: The Spring house showing creek in front of it. A view of Vale building and cottages to the left of the Central hotel. A northwest view of the Central hotel and Buford building. The Baltimore Row cottages. The Central hotel, Buford building, and Baltimore Row cottages. The Kentucky Row cottages with a family, servants, and a dog. The Gothic buidling, Vale building, and Chapel. A view of the grounds with covered walkways. Two copies of the Jefferson cottage. A mountain scene driving towards the resort.

A circa 1930 snapshot phot of the Central Hotel.

A circa 1930 copy print photo of some of the cottages.

Biographical / historical:

The plate titled "Rockbridge Alum Spring, Rockbridge County, Va." is one of the most famous panoramic lithographs from German artist Edward Beyer's landmark 1858 masterpiece, Album of Virginia; or, Illustration of the Old Dominion. Beyer spent three years traveling the state during the 1850s, drawing sketches of its landscape, before returning to Germany to print the album using advanced European lithographic technology. His piece on the Rockbridge Alum Springs provides a detailed, vibrant window into the peak era of Virginia's antebellum spa culture.

Rockbridge Alum Springs is a historic property located in western Rockbridge County, Virginia, near Goshen, that evolved from a premier 19th century mineral spring resort into a massive, modern youth camp operated by Young Life. Developed heavily in the 1850s, it was one of Virginia's most prestigious and exclusive antebellum spa complexes, ranking second in popularity only to White Sulphur Springs. The resort was famous for its rare, highly astringent aluminum-sulfate mineral waters, believed to cure chronic skin diseases, digestive ailments, and scrofula. The original complex featured a sprawling landscape centered around a columned pavilion, topped by a statue of Hygeia, the Greek goddess of health, built directly over the mineral spring. Guests stayed in grand brick hotels or long, uniform rows of cottages like "Baltimore Row".

Names:

African Americans. Rockbridge County, Virginia

Access and use