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Berkeley Springs State Park

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A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government , or capital city of a county or civil parish . The term is in use in five countries: Canada , China , Hungary , Romania , and the United States . An equivalent term, shire town , is used in the U.S. state of Vermont and in several other English-speaking jurisdictions.

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47-524: Berkeley Springs State Park is a state park situated in Berkeley Springs , West Virginia , United States. The centerpiece of the Park is its historic mineral spa . These waters were celebrated for their medicinal or restorative powers and were generally taken internally for digestive disorders , or bathed in for stress relief. Native Americans visited these springs as did George Washington . Berkeley Springs

94-526: A Superior Court and Sheriff (as an officer of the court ), both located in a designated "shire town". Bennington County, Vermont has two shire towns; the court for "North Shire" is in the shire town Manchester , and the Sheriff for the county and court for "South Shire" are in the shire town Bennington. In 2024, Connecticut , which had not defined their counties for anything but statistical, historical and weather warning purposes since 1960, along with ending

141-428: A fountain at the 19th century Gentlemen's Spring House — as well as from every tap in town since the springs serve as the source of the municipal water supply. The current bathhouse includes nine separate bathing chambers with tubs capable of holding a total 750 gallons of water heated to 102 degrees. These baths are open to the public daily throughout the year and water is also bottled and sold commercially. The town

188-527: A connection to Interstate 81 near Winchester , Virginia . The other primary highway serving Berkeley Springs is West Virginia Route 9 , oriented in a general northwest-to-southeast alignment. WV 9 heads westward to Paw Paw and continues east to Martinsburg . The two highways run concurrently for a short stretch along Main Street in Berkeley Springs. A location in the online multiplayer game Fallout 76

235-507: A constant temperature of 74.3 degrees, emerging from the Oriskany (Ridgeley) sandstone of Warm Springs Ridge . Five major springs merge on the location of the spa. The water contains significant amounts of sulfates , nitrates , and carbonates —mostly magnesium carbonates . The discharge varies from 750 to 2,000 US gallons (2,800 to 7,600 L) per minute. The water is available for bathing at two park bathhouses and for drinking from

282-410: A county seat may be an independent city surrounded by, but not part of, the county of which it is the administrative center; for example, Fairfax City is both the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia and completely surrounded by Fairfax County, but the city is politically independent of the county. When the county seat is in the independent city, government offices such as the courthouse may be in

329-646: A county was the magistrate , who oversaw both the day-to-day operations of the county as well as civil and criminal cases. The current number of counties mostly resembled that of the later years of the Qing dynasty . Changes of location and names of counties in Chinese history have been a major field of research in Chinese historical geography, especially from the 1960s to the 1980s. There are 1,355 counties in Mainland China out of

376-461: A state-appointed group of Beth Trustees. This would become Berkeley Springs State Park with its springs and bathhouses, which was made part of the West Virginia state park system in 1925. Nearby, Cacapon State Park was opened in 1933. The mountain that gives its name to the park has an elevation of 2,320 feet (710 m) above sea level. Bath's population increased during and immediately after

423-568: A total of 2,851 county-level divisions. In Taiwan , the first counties were first established in 1661 by the Kingdom of Tungning . The later ruler Qing empire inherited this type of administrative divisions. With the increase of Han Chinese population in Taiwan, the number of counties also grew by time. By the end of Qing era, there were 11 counties in Taiwan. Protestant missionaries in China first romanized

470-593: Is a section of Middle Township , an incorporated municipality. In some states, often those that were among the original Thirteen Colonies , county seats include or formerly included "Court House" as part of their name, such as Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia . Most counties have only one county seat. However, some counties in Alabama , Arkansas , Georgia , Iowa , Kentucky , Massachusetts , Mississippi , Missouri , New Hampshire , New York , and Vermont have two or more county seats, usually located on opposite sides of

517-433: Is also the organizer of the annual Berkeley Springs’ International Water Tasting Competition. The Museum of the Berkeley Springs is located on the second floor of the bathhouse. Established in 1984, it exhibits various historical items of natural and cultural significance to the springs and town. Admission is free, and the museum is open at least on weekends from March through December. The waters that leak directly from

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564-602: Is the county seat of Morgan County. Morgan County makes up one of the central counties in the eastern panhandle. According to the United States Census Bureau , the incorporated town of Bath has a total area of 0.34 square miles (0.88 km ), all land. There are two rivers in Morgan County. The Potomac makes up the northern border, and the Cacapon River cuts through the center of the county connecting with

611-545: Is the only state-run spa in the United States and is operated by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources . The park is located on land which has been used as a health resort since the 1750s as the property of Lord Fairfax . On 18 March 1748, George Washington, then 16, visited the spa for the first time. An annual event is held to commemorate this historic visit, but the tub where Washington supposedly bathed

658-539: The Sui dynasty abolished the commandery level (郡 jùn), which was the level just above counties, and demoted some commanderies to counties. In Imperial China, the county was a significant administrative unit because it marked the lowest level of the imperial bureaucratic structure; in other words, it was the lowest level that the government reached. Government below the county level was often undertaken through informal non-bureaucratic means, varying between dynasties. The head of

705-515: The United States , a county is an administrative or political subdivision of a state that consists of a geographic area with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The city, town, or populated place that houses county government is known as the seat of its county. Generally, the county legislature, county courthouse, sheriff's department headquarters, hall of records, jail and correctional facility are located in

752-570: The Wheeling Conventions of 1861 , a referendum was held in 41 mostly northwestern Virginia counties on whether to secede from Virginia and seek admission to the United States as a new state. An overwhelming majority of voters in these counties voted in favor of the proposal. Confederates commanded by Stonewall Jackson captured Bath during the Romney Expedition in January 1862, and ransacked

799-415: The poverty line , including 26.8% of those under age 18 and 15.7% of those age 65 or over. Two main highways serve Berkeley Springs. The most prominent of these is U.S. Route 522 . US 522 traverses the region in a general north-northeast to south-southwest direction. To the north, US 522 connects Berkeley Springs to Interstate 70 and Interstate 68 near Hancock , Maryland , while heading south provides

846-604: The Potomac at Great Cacapon . Cacapon and Sleepy Creek Mountain are the two most notable mountains in the county. Berkeley Springs is nestled northwest of the Shenandoah Valley at an elevation of approximately 656 feet (200 m). Warm Spring Run cuts through the center of the town and eventually connects with the Potomac River near Hancock Station. Sleepy Creek connects with the Potomac along River Road north and east of

893-480: The Revolutionary War as wounded soldiers and others came to the area believing that the warm springs had medicinal qualities. In 1772, the springs were part of the newly formed Berkeley County, named after its colonial governor, Norborne Berkeley. The waters became known as Berkeley Springs because the existing protocol was to name springs after the colonial Virginia county in which they were located. Previously,

940-578: The Town of Bath . In 1776, the Virginia Legislature incorporated a town around the springs and named it Bath. Since 1802, it has been referred to by the name of its original post office, Berkeley Springs. The population was 758 at the 2020 census . It is part of the Hagerstown–Martinsburg metropolitan area . The area contains mineral water springs frequented by Native Americans indigenous to

987-769: The administrative centers of the counties in the People's Republic of China . Xian have existed since the Warring States period and were set up nationwide by the Qin dynasty . The number of counties in China proper gradually increased from dynasty to dynasty. As Qin Shi Huang reorganized the counties after his unification, there were about 1,000. Under the Eastern Han dynasty , the number of counties increased to above 1,000. About 1400 existed when

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1034-542: The age of 18 living with them, 35.6% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51.4% were non-families. 46.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 25.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.98, and the average family size was 2.85. In the town, the population was spread out, with 19.5% under 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 23.4% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 23.8% who were 65 years or older. The median age

1081-541: The area had been called Warm Springs and Medicinal Springs among other names. Bath became known permanently to the world as Berkeley Springs in 1802 when the Virginia postal system was established in the new nation, and there already was a Bath, Virginia, in Bath County . In 1861, many residents of Virginia were opposed to Virginia's secession from the United States, some calling the act of secession treasonous. Following

1128-578: The area in 1767, Washington noted how busy the colonial town had become. Lord Fairfax had built a summer home there and a "private bath", making the area a popular destination for Virginia 's social elite. With the advent of independence, An act for establishing a town at the Warm Springs in the county of Berkeley was adopted by the Virginia General Assembly in December 1776. Officially, the town

1175-508: The area, possibly for thousands of years. After settlement by Europeans, the mineral springs drew many visitors from urban areas. Notable colonial visitors to the area included George Washington and James Rumsey . Berkeley Springs remained a popular resort area during the United States' early years. It is the home of the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting, the longest-running and largest such event in

1222-432: The county seat is the entire county. Ellicott City , the county seat of Howard County, Maryland , is the largest unincorporated county seat in the United States, followed by Towson , the county seat of Baltimore County, Maryland . Likewise, some county seats may not be incorporated in their own right, but are located within incorporated municipalities. For example, Cape May Court House, New Jersey , though unincorporated,

1269-491: The county seat, though some functions (such as highway maintenance, which usually requires a large garage for vehicles, along with asphalt and salt storage facilities) may also be located or conducted in other parts of the county, especially if it is geographically large. A county seat is usually an incorporated municipality . The exceptions include the county seats of counties that have no incorporated municipalities within their borders, such as Arlington County, Virginia , where

1316-420: The county. Examples include Harrison County, Mississippi , which has both Biloxi and Gulfport as county seats, and Hinds County, Mississippi , which has both Raymond and the state capital of Jackson . The practice of multiple county seat towns dates from the days when travel was difficult. There have been few efforts to eliminate the two-seat arrangement, since a county seat is a source of civic pride for

1363-575: The homes of local unionists. The United States admitted the State of West Virginia on June 20, 1863. Berkeley Springs remained the conventional name used for the town. Its sister city is Bath, England. Berkeley Springs is located in the Appalachian Mountains . The town lies in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia 26 miles (42 km) northwest of Martinsburg, West Virginia and 36 miles (58 km) west of Hagerstown, Maryland . Berkeley Springs

1410-611: The independent city under an agreement, such as in Albemarle , or may in be enclaves of the county surrounded by the independent city, such as in Fairfax . Others, such as Prince William , have the courthouse in an enclave surrounded by the independent city and have the county government, the Board of Supervisors, in a different part of the county, far from the county seat. The following counties have their county seat in an independent city: Bedford

1457-440: The population. There were 314 households, of which 23.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.8% were married couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 49.7% were non-families. 43.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

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1504-487: The site of an earlier bathhouse attributed to James Rumsey . The earlier bathhouse, built in 1784, is described as having had five bathing chambers and dressing rooms. On 1 January 2019, the Old Roman Bathhouse building closed down for renovation (including handicap access, new bath tiles, bath benches, new boiler system) for a period of 6 months and a $ 1-million budget. Water flows from natural mineral springs at

1551-492: The spring are home to an introduced population of guppies that date to around the early 1940s. Originally from South America , they are able to survive throughout the year due to the constantly warm waters that outflow from the spring. Several other species of fish make their way up from Warm Spring Run into the hot spring itself. These fish include eastern blacknose dace , creek chub , central stoneroller , and bluntnose and cutlips minnows . There are also crayfish in

1598-464: The spring, and water snakes are seen occasionally as well. Berkeley Springs State Park is a location in Fallout 76 , as Berkeley Springs West Bath (Berkeley Springs), West Virginia Berkeley Springs is a town in, and the county seat of, Morgan County, West Virginia , United States, in the state's eastern panhandle . Berkeley Springs is also commonly used to refer to the area in and around

1645-764: The state's area, has no borough government or borough seat. One borough, the Lake and Peninsula Borough , has its borough seat located in another borough, namely King Salmon in Bristol Bay Borough . In Louisiana , which is divided into parishes rather than counties, county seats are referred to as "parish seats". In New England , counties have served mainly as dividing lines for the states' judicial systems. Rhode Island has no county level of government and thus no county seats, and Massachusetts has dissolved many but not all of its county governments. In Vermont , Massachusetts , and Maine county government consists only of

1692-570: The term as hien . When Taiwan became a Japanese colony in 1895, the hierarchy of divisions also incorporated into the Japanese system in the period when Taiwan was under Japanese rule. By September 1945, Taiwan was divided into 8 prefectures ( 州 and 廳 ), which remained after the Republic of China took over. There are 13 county seats in Taiwan, which function as county-administered cities , urban townships , or rural townships . In most of

1739-501: The town. As of the census of 2010, there were 624 people, 314 households, and 158 families residing in the incorporated town of Bath. The population density was 1,835.3 inhabitants per square mile (708.6/km ). There were 416 housing units at an average density of 1,223.5 per square mile (472.4/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 96.5% White , 0.5% Native American , 0.3% Asian , 1.0% from other races , and 1.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.7% of

1786-465: The town. The population density was 2,706.0 inhabitants per square mile (1,044.8/km ). There were 379 housing units at an average density of 1,546.9 per square mile (597.3/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 97.1% White , 1.7% African American , 0.2% Native American , 0.3% from other races , and 0.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.6% of the population. There were 331 households, out of which 20.5% had children under

1833-416: The towns involved, along with providing employment opportunities. There are 33 counties with multiple county seats in 11 states: Alaska is divided into boroughs rather than counties; the county seat in these case is referred to as the "borough seat"; this includes six consolidated city-borough governments (one of which is styled as a "municipality"). The Unorganized Borough, Alaska , which covers 49% of

1880-538: The use of county seats in particular, will fully transition with the permission of the United States Census Bureau to a system of councils of government for the purposes of boundary definition and as county equivalents. Two counties in South Dakota , Oglala Lakota and Todd , have their county seat and government services centered in a neighboring county. Their county-level services are provided by Fall River County and Tripp County , respectively. In Virginia ,

1927-415: The world. Another local tradition is the famed Apple Butter Festival , started by a group of local business owners in 1974, with overwhelming support from then-Mayor Frank Heiner. The area continues to be a popular resort area, with tourism the primary industry in the county and there being six full-service spas using mineral water. During colonial times in 1748, George Washington , then just 16 years old,

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1974-431: Was 1.99, and the average family size was 2.74. The median age in the town was 42.9 years. 21.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.1% were from 25 to 44; 27% were from 45 to 64; and 19.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 47.8% male and 52.2% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 663 people, 331 households, and 160 families residing in

2021-408: Was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 80.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.4 males. The median income for a household in the town was $ 24,934, and the median income for a family was $ 33,333. Males had a median income of $ 25,156 versus $ 23,611 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 14,917. About 13.4% of families and 18.7% of the population were below

2068-418: Was named Bath , in honor of England's spa city Bath . George Washington, his family members, and several colonial elites were among the town's first landowners. The town's main north-south street was named Washington, and the main east-west street was named Fairfax. Also, four acres were set aside for "suffering humanity." The area around the springs always was public land known as The Grove and overseen by

2115-447: Was named and inspired by Berkeley Springs. County seat In Canada , the provinces of Ontario , Quebec , New Brunswick , Prince Edward Island , and Nova Scotia have counties as an administrative division of government below the provincial level, and thus county seats. In the provinces of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia the term "shire town" is used in place of county seat. County seats in China are

2162-478: Was part of the team that surveyed the Eastern Panhandle region for Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron . Washington returned several times over the next several years with his half-brother, Lawrence, who was ill, hoping that the warm springs might improve his health. The springs, and their rumored medicinal benefits, attracted numerous Native Americans and Europeans to the area. While vacationing in

2209-467: Was rebuilt in the 1930s. Colonial maps dating as early as 1740 credit medicinal properties to the springs' waters. The land was officially granted to Virginia in 1776. The town of Bath was incorporated that same year (it was called Warm Springs before its incorporation). The historic Roman Bathhouse, the oldest public building in Berkeley Springs, was built in Federal-style architecture in 1815 on

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