The John Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church is the only remaining building from the first decades of West Warm Springs, a community settled by African Americans who came to Bath County after the Civil War seeking employment in the area’s springs resorts and related industries. The church was the first religious building for blacks in the community. It became a recreational and religious hub and part of the broader community development patterns former slaves created in the wake of Emancipation and Reconstruction. Today it is the only remaining log building in the community and the only surviving example of a Bath County religious institution constructed by, and once serving, emancipated African Americans. A small cemetery is located on an adjacent parcel west of the John Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia