The George Washington National Forest and Ramsey s Draft Wilderness are close by and Civil War buffs will enjoy retracing troop movements from the 1862 Battle of McDowell just to the west in Highland County. It s hard to believe that this community was once located along a transportation artery and had a school, post office, stores, an inn and a resort spring. The Staunton to Parkersburg Turnpike was the reason. The Old West Augusta Inn burned in 1910, but the New West Augusta Hotel was opened a year later. Visitors came from as far away as New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore to relax in the mountain air, ride horses and drink water from nearby Lebanon springs.
Few people remember that a popular spring was once located here.
The sulphur water was believed to have medicinal qualities. Drinking the water and breathing the mountain air was thought to have a positive effect on one s health. The land where Lebanon White Sulphur Springs was located was first settled in 1767 by Robert Reed. In 1803, Michael Garber came to own the land and began bottling the water and promoting the spring s curative properties. Water was taken from the spring in five gallon bottles as late as the 1930s.