Editing Webster Springs, West Virginia

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name            = Addison, West Virginia
| name                     = Webster Springs, West Virginia
| settlement_type          = [[Town]]
| image_skyline            = Webster Springs, West Virginia - panoramio.jpg 
| image_caption            = Webster Springs in January 2007
| image_flag               = 
| image_seal               = 
| image_shield             = 
| nickname                 = 
| motto                    = 
| image_map                = Webster County West Virginia Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Addison (Webster Springs) Highlighted.svg
| mapsize                  = 250px
| map_caption              = Location of Webster Springs in [[Webster County, West Virginia]] (left) and in [[West Virginia]] (right)
| pushpin_map              = <!-- name of a location map as per Template:Location_map -->
| pushpin_label_position   = <!-- position of the pushpin label: left, right, top, bottom, none -->
| pushpin_map_caption      = 
| coordinates              = {{coord|38|28|34|N|80|24|36|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name         = [[United States]]
| subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1        = [[West Virginia]]
| subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in West Virginia|County]]
| subdivision_name2        = [[Webster County, West Virginia|Webster]]
| established_title        = Settled as:<!-- Settled -->
| established_date         = Fort Lick in 1899
| established_title1       = Incorporated as (town):
| established_date1        = <br>Addison in 1945
| founder                  = 
| named_for                = Addison McLaughlin<ref name="Name">{{cite book |last=Romano |first=Mark |title=A Pictorial History of Webster County |edition=First |page=203 |chapter=Map of Webster County |publisher=Mark Romano |year=2002 |isbn=0-9720212-0-5 }}</ref>
| government_type          = 
| government_footnotes     = 
| leader_title             = Mayor
| leader_name              = Don E. McCourt
| unit_pref                = Imperial
| area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2019">{{cite web|title=2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2019_Gazetteer/2019_gaz_place_54.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 7, 2020}}</ref>
| area_total_km2           = 1.23
| area_total_sq_mi         = 0.47
| area_land_km2            = 1.17
| area_land_sq_mi          = 0.45
| area_water_km2           = 0.06
| area_water_sq_mi         = 0.02
| elevation_footnotes      = <ref name="Usgs">{{cite web |url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=106:2:3016982439103872
| title                    = Geographic Names Information System (GNIS): Feature name: Webster Springs, West Virginia
| publisher                = [[United States Department of the Interior]] and [[United States Geological Survey]]
| access-date               = December 26, 2008}}</ref>
| elevation_m              = 445
| elevation_ft             = 1,460
| population_footnotes     = <ref name="USCensusEst2020-2021">{{cite web |title=City and Town Population Totals: 2020-2021 |url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-cities-and-towns.html |website=Census.gov |publisher=US Census Bureau |access-date=July 3, 2022}}</ref>
| population_total         = 731
| population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| population_est           = 715
| pop_est_as_of            = 2021
| population_density_km2   = 568.16
| population_density_sq_mi = 1470.07
| population_blank1_title  = 
| population_blank1        = 
| timezone                 = [[North American Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
| utc_offset               = -5
| timezone_DST             = [[Eastern Time Zone|EDT]]
| utc_offset_DST           = -4
| postal_code_type         = [[ZIP Code]]
| postal_code              = 26288
| area_code                = [[Area codes 304 and 681|304 and 681]]
| blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info               = 54101
| blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info              = 1560603
| website                  = [https://local.wv.gov/Addison/Pages/default.aspx Addison Official Website]
| footnotes                = 
|pop_est_footnotes = <ref name="USCensusEst2020-2021"/>
}}

'''Addison''', commonly known as '''Webster Springs''', is a town in and the [[county seat]] of [[Webster County, West Virginia|Webster County]], [[West Virginia]], United States. Although it was incorporated as Addison in 1892,<ref name="History">{{cite web |url=http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/wv/Webster/webhistory.html |title=Webster County History |last=Dilger |first=Dr. Robert Jay |work=WVU.edu |publisher=[[West Virginia University]] |location=[[Morgantown, West Virginia]] |access-date=December 26, 2008}}</ref> it is more frequently referred to as Webster Springs, the name of the town's [[post office]].<ref name="Name" /> It was named for Addison McLaughlin, upon whose land the town was originally laid out.<ref name="Name" /> The population was 731 at the [[United States Census, 2020|2020 census]].<ref name="USCensusEst2020-2021"/>

The town was famous in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for its numerous [[salt]] [[Sulfur#Traditional medical role for elemental sulfur|sulfur]] water wells. People believed that the water from the wells had medicinal qualities.<ref name="History" />

Webster Springs sits at the confluence of the [[Elk River (West Virginia)|Elk River]] and its Back Fork. The town has numerous shops, retail stores, grocery stores, pharmacies, a motel, and several restaurants. Government offices for the municipality, county, and state are available in the town.  The town is served by the Addison Public Library and fire service is provided by the Webster Springs Volunteer Fire Department.

==Etymology==
The name of the town is officially "Addison", but the community is most often referred to by the name of its post office, "Webster Springs".<ref name="P.O. Name">{{cite book |last=Romano |first=Mark |title=The Webster Springs Hotel and Historic Springs, WV: The Summer Resort Center |edition=Limited Edition First |page=15 |chapter="The Historic Springs" |publisher=Mark Romano |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-9720212-6-5 }}</ref> It is also labeled on some maps as "Addison", and some as "Webster Springs". The unofficial name has gone so far that the county commission's letterhead reads "Webster Springs," rather than "Addison", which it had previously.

Other names for the town have included Elk Lick and Fork Lick.<ref name="P.O. Name" />

==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]]

==Geography==
Webster Springs is located at {{coord|38|28|34|N|80|24|36|W|type:city}} (38.476192, -80.410025), along the [[Elk River (West Virginia)|Elk River]]. According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|0.47|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, of which {{convert|0.45|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is land and {{convert|0.02|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is water.<ref name ="Gazetteer files">{{cite web|title=US Gazetteer files 2010|url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 24, 2013}}</ref> It lies at an elevation of 1,460&nbsp;ft. (445m)<ref name="Usgs" /> and is close to [[Buffalo Bull Knob]], elevation 2,799&nbsp;ft.

===Climate===
The climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round.  According to the [[Köppen Climate Classification]] system, Webster Springs has a [[marine west coast climate]], abbreviated "Cfb" on climate maps.<ref>[http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=594094&cityname=Webster+Springs%2C+West+Virginia%2C+United+States+of+America&units= Climate Summary for Webster Springs, West Virginia]</ref>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1880= 120
|1900= 297
|1910= 500
|1920= 679
|1930= 976
|1940= 1133
|1950= 1313
|1960= 1132
|1970= 1038
|1980= 939
|1990= 674
|2000= 808
|2010= 776
|2020= 731
|estyear=2021
|estimate=715
|estref=<ref name="USCensusEst2020-2021"/>
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}

=== 2020 census ===
As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], there were 731 people and 436 households residing in the city. There were 415 housing units in Webster Springs. The racial makeup of the city was 97.2% [[White American|White]], 0.3% [[African American]], 0.1% [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]], 0.3% from [[Race and ethnicity in the United States Census#Race|other races]], and 2% from [[Multiracial American|two or more races]]. [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanics or Latinos]] of any race were 0.5% of the population.

There were 436 households, of which  47.2% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together,  35.6% had a female householder with no spouse present,  14% had a male householder with no spouse present.The average household and family size was 4.16. The median age in the city was 34.2 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/profile/Addison_(Webster_Springs)_town,_West_Virginia?g=1600000US5400364 |access-date=February 23, 2023 |website=data.census.gov}}</ref>

===2010 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name="wwwcensusgov">{{cite web|title=U.S. Census website|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 24, 2013}}</ref> of 2010, there were 776 people, 363 households, and 211 families living in the town. The [[population density]] was {{convert|1724.4|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 447 housing units at an average density of {{convert|993.3|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The racial makeup of the town was 99.2% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.1% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.1% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], and 0.5% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 0.3% of the population.

Of the 363 households, 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.8% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 41.9% were non-families. 36.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.77.

The median age in the town was 45.3 years. 20.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.3% were from 25 to 44; 32% were from 45 to 64; and 18% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 47.8% male and 52.2% female.

=== 2000 Census ===
As of the [[census]] of 2000, there were 808 people, 403 households, and 222 families living in the town. The [[population density]] was 1,729.9 inhabitants per square mile (663.8/km{{sup|2}}). There were 463 housing units at an average density of 991.3 per square mile (380.4/km{{sup|2}}). The racial makeup of the town was 99.75% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.12% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], and 0.12% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 0.50% of the population.

There were 403 households, out of which 22.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.7% were non-families. 42.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.00 and the average family size was 2.70.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 19.9% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 27.7% from 45 to 64, and 20.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 80.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $20,592, and the median income for a family was $27,434. Males had a median income of $27,386 versus $16,389 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $13,500. About 22.0% of families and 28.1% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 35.2% of those under age 18 and 21.9% of those age 65 or over.

==Notable people==
* [[Joe Talbott]],<ref name="Talbott">{{cite web |url=http://www.legis.state.wv.us/House/Members/delmemdistricts.cfm?input=36 |title=West Virginia House of Delegates |publisher=[[West Virginia]] State Legislature |access-date=December 26, 2008}}</ref> [[West Virginia House of Delegates|Delegate]] for the 36th District
* [[Forest Dewey Dodrill]], pioneering heart surgeon<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stephenson |first=Larry |title=THE MICHIGAN HEART |url=http://www.med.wayne.edu/news_media/waynemed/2002waynemed.pdf |access-date=December 4, 2013}}</ref>
* [[Walt Helmick]], West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture.

== See also ==
* [[Webster Sycamore]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Webster Springs, West Virginia}}
* [http://www.websterwv.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.woodchoppingfestival.com/ Webster County Woodchopping Festival Official website]

{{Webster County, West Virginia}}
{{West Virginia municipalities}}
{{West Virginia county seats}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Coal towns in West Virginia]]
[[Category:County seats in West Virginia]]
[[Category:Towns in Webster County, West Virginia]]
[[Category:Spa towns in West Virginia]]
[[Category:Towns in West Virginia]]
[[Category:Populated places on the Elk River (West Virginia)]]
[[Category:1892 establishments in West Virginia]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1892]]
[[Category:Webster Springs, West Virginia| ]]