The mineral springs hotel of Ridgeway
By Virginia King, June 15, 2018
We have all heard of the famous Greenbrier and Homestead hotels, but did you know that Ridgeway had a popular mineral springs hotel at one time?
The large hotel was built from 1897-1899 by E. H. Hayes on 100 acres of land located about two miles northeast of Ridgeway. It was named Phospholithia Hotel for the Phospho-Lithia Springs nearby.
It was a popular center for social activities, drawing crowds from miles around for many years. Dr. J. Beverly DeShazo published the following testimonial about the medicinal waters:
“Doctors have recommended this water for its marvelous effects on the stomach, skin and kidneys and nervous system,” Dr. DeShazo wrote. “[It is] beneficial in deterioration of the whole genito- urinary tract apparatus, rheumatism, gout and allied diseases of the circulatory system.”
The Danville Register & Bee from July 13, 1922 includes a mention of the springs and hotel. The piece says that the Phospho-Lithia Springs “are recommended by doctors as a cure for rheumatism, indigestion and various forms of kidney trouble.”
The hotel charged $15 for a one week stay, according to the R & B article from 1922. As part of the hotel stay, guests were promised “chicken three times a day, along with hot and cold baths.”
In the book The Life And Times of Ridgeway, Virginia, 1728-1990 by Ruth Pace and Mary Pace McGee, it states that guests “from Danville would ride the Danville and Western, known as the “Dick and Willie,” to Martinsville where they joined others on the Norfolk and Western for traveling to the popular resort.”
“A flag stop was established and a small latticed station was built for passengers who were disembarking or boarding the train,” the book states. “ The price of a round trip from Martinsville was fifteen cents for adults, and children rode free of charge.”
A look at the structure
Between the railroad and the hotel ran a stream called Rea’s Creek. A dam was constructed with heavy timbers and the resulting sizeable pond was used for swimming and fishing.
The pond on the property was also used by local churches, according to records of the time, as a place for baptizing new believers.
In winter when the “lake” froze, huge blocks of ice were cut and stored in sawdust for use during the summer season.
A bridge was built over the dam to enable guests to reach the hotel from the train. Eldridge Shropshire, who grew up near by, remembers that the two springs were the main attraction of the resort.
They were sulphurous and bitter, one having such a high content of the medicinal ingredient that he remembers some partakers would strain the spring water before drinking it.
Each spring was partially covered by a concrete slab, equipped with a hand pump and encased in a gazebo, set up as a place where guests could sip the water and spend time with friends.
In addition to those two, the records show there was a third spring, which was about five hundred feet away. You could get there from the hotel by using a walkway, which had picnic tables and barbecue pits set up on either side.
There were 30 rooms in the hotel, in order to handle all of the guests that dropped by. According to the book, “the ground floor was used for a ballroom, where dances and parties were held every week-end, and also boasted a ten-pin alley for the indoor entertainment of the guests. The first floor had parlors for entertaining, the dining room and kitchen quarters. The second floor contained the bedrooms.”
“A porch extending for about one hundred fifty feet across the front and along one side with white railings, offered an additional area for summer gatherings,” the book stated.
There were a number of people in charge of the hotel’s operation. The hotel itself lasted from 1899 to 1929 and it was run by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ferguson, with help from Danville resident Beverly Ashworth.
They had a strict schedule for the hotel, which opened in April and closed in October, according to local records.
The hotel was purchased, records say, by Miss Alice and Miss Anna Stulz, who had previously operated their own hotel in Ridgeway. The records are a bit foggy after that, only stating that the hotel closed in 1929.