Editing Webster Springs, West Virginia (section)

==History==
[[File:William D. Arthur, Sr..jpg|thumb|left|The tombstone erected near the actual burial site of William Arthur, in his honor as a founder of Fort Lick (now Webster Springs), WV.]]
The town's first permanent settlers were named William and Polly (maiden name, "Friend") Arthur, who arrived in 1860.<ref name="History" /> The first post office established in Webster County was Fort Lick, present-day Webster Springs.<ref name="History" /> The postmaster at the time was a man by the name of John Hall. It is also the county seat of Webster County<ref name="History" />

The [[Morton House (Webster Springs, West Virginia)|Morton House]] was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1986.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>

===Salt sulfur wells===
Hall, along with a man whose first name is not known, who is only known as Mr. Skidmore, drilled the first [[salt]] [[Sulfur#Traditional medical role for elemental sulfur|sulfur]] well in the county, it was known as "Old Spring."<ref name="History" /> The well was later owned by [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] John T. McGraw.<ref name="History" /> The salt sulfur well helped make Webster Springs a popular summer tourist location during the 19th and early 20th Century.<ref name="History" />

According to ''Springs in West Virginia'', Webster Springs had a total of four springs: the Addison McLaughlin Well, located to the west of Court Square on the present site of the Mineral Springs Motel; Old Fork Lick Spring, located in the bed of the Elk River; Tracy Well, located on the lot of its owner, W.B. Tracy, in Webster Springs; and the William Smith Well, located in Dorrtown.<ref name="Spring">{{cite book |last=Romano |first=Mark |title=The Webster Springs Hotel and Historic Springs, WV: The Summer Resort Center |edition=Limited Edition First |page=58 |chapter=12, "The Historic Springs" |publisher=Mark Romano |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-9720212-6-5 }}</ref> The wells were popular because people believed that the water from the wells had medicinal qualities.<ref name="History" /> The water was used to treat skin conditions such as [[psoriasis]], [[eczema]], [[acne]] and [[arthritis]].<ref name="History" />

===Webster Springs Hotel===
In 1897, [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Johnson N. Camden|Johnson Newlon Camden]] built the Webster Springs Hotel, a 265-room hotel of [[Victorian architecture|Victorian style architecture]].<ref name="Hotel">{{cite book |last=Romano |first=Mark |title=The Webster Springs Hotel and Historic Springs, WV: The Summer Resort Center |edition=Limited Edition First |pages=78–96 |chapter="The Historic Springs" |publisher=Mark Romano |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-9720212-6-5 }}</ref> It was larger than [[The Greenbrier]] Hotel, built in 1913 in [[White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia|White Sulfur Springs]], which only has 250 rooms.<ref name="Hotel" /> The hotel contained a tennis court, horse stables, garden, bowling alley, power plant, and [[Russia]]n and [[Victorian Turkish baths]],<ref name="Hotel" /> where visitors could enjoy the "medicinal" qualities of its salt sulfur waters. The hotel was also the largest wood-frame hotel in West Virginia.<ref name="Largest">{{cite book |last=Romano |first=Mark |title=The Webster Springs Hotel and Historic Springs, WV: The Summer Resort Center (Interview with Mae R. Cogar) |edition=Limited Edition First |page=97 |chapter="The Historic Springs" |publisher=Mark Romano |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-9720212-6-5 }}</ref>

When first built, the hotel was a three-story dark colored building. After it was completed, construction began on a new, much larger section of the hotel, adding more rooms, and a new exterior color, white. The new section of the hotel contained up-to-date Turkish bath equipment, where guests could have a sulfur water bath.<ref name="Hotel" /> For many years, filled to capacity by guests and a greatly increased overflow which necessitated the building of smaller hotels in the town.<ref name="Hotel" /> The hotel also raised its own cattle and provided some of its own food and milk.<ref name="Hotel" /> The hotel's ice house, according to ''Elizah Hedding Gillespie, His Ancestors, Descendants and Their Families'', was capable of holding 150 [[ton]]s of ice.<ref name="Hotel" /> The hotel was heated by steam.<ref name="Hotel" />

[[File:Webster Springs WV Hotel from Book of the Royal Blue April 1909 Vol 12 No 07 Page 14.jpg|thumb|left|Webster Springs Hotel, circa 1909]]
In 1903, Colonel McGraw purchased the hotel and expanded it by 115 rooms, completed in the spring of 1904.<ref name="Hotel" /> Of the 89 "non-guest" rooms in the new section, 40 were for salt sulfur baths, which took up the entire first floor of one wing.<ref name="Hotel" /> The entire southern wing of the hotel was given to bath rooms, including; "the plunge," Turkish, Russian, Needle, Shower, and Steam baths. Of which they were offered in both fresh and salt-sulfur water.<ref name="Hotel" />

On the interior, it contained stuffed [[bear]]s, [[elk]]s, and other wildlife of the local county in realistic poses.<ref name="Hotel" />

At the height of its popularity, the hotel played host to such guests as Senators [[Thomas Kearns]] ([[Utah]]), [[Henry G. Davis]] (West Virginia), his son-in-law, [[Stephen Benton Elkins]] (West Virginia), and Camden himself.

On the night of July 20, 1925, the hotel caught fire and was burned to the ground, being completely destroyed.<ref name="Hotel" /> Flames could be seen as far as one mile away, as well, the sky was seen as a bright red color, up to 19 miles away, in [[Camden-on-Gauley, West Virginia|Camden-on-Gauley]].<ref name="Hotel" />

[[File:Webster Springs West Virginia.jpg|thumb|280px|Main Street ([[West Virginia Route 15]]) in Webster Springs in 2007, from Court Square.]]
[[File:Webster County Courthouse West Virginia.jpg|thumb|280px|Front of the Webster County Courthouse in 2007]]