Editing Morgan County, West Virginia (section)

===18th century===
As mentioned previously, George Washington visited present-day Berkeley Springs several times with his half-brother, Lawrence. When he vacationed in the area in 1767, he noted how busy the 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. As the town continued to grow, the Virginia General Assembly decided to formally recognize it. In October 1776, the town was officially named Bath, in honor of England's spa city called [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]. The town's main north–south street was named Washington and the main east–west street was named Fairfax. Also, {{convert|7|acre|m2|spell=in}} were set aside for "suffering humanity." When [[West Virginia]] gained statehood, that area became West Virginia's first state park.

Bath's population increased during and immediately after the [[American Revolutionary War]] as wounded soldiers and others came to the area believing that the warm springs had medicinal qualities. Bath gained a reputation as a somewhat wild town where eating, drinking, dancing, and gambling on the daily horse races were the order of the day.

Bath later became known as Berkeley Springs, primarily because the town's post office took that name (combining Governor [[Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt|Norborne Berkeley]]'s last name with the warm springs found there) to avoid confusion with another post office, located in southeastern Virginia, which was already called Bath. Because the mail was sent to and from Berkeley Springs, that name slowly took precedence.