{"nrhp_refnum":"82004551","name":"Craig Healing Springs","other_names":["Craig Springs Conference Grounds"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"VA 658","address_restricted":false,"city":"Craig Springs","county":"Craig County","state":"VA","lat":37.48523526100007,"lon":-80.29226530431977,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-07-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A former mountain spa resort of twenty-three mostly frame buildings at Craig Springs, Craig County, Virginia, developed from 1909 and largely in its present form by 1920, with additions around 1935. It sits in the Allegheny Mountains along Route 658.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a well-preserved group of early 20th-century resort buildings representing the architecture of Virginia's more modest spas. It also notes its role in popular culture as a health resort that flourished with automobile travel between the world wars. Its continued care as a church conference center is cited as a notable example of adaptive reuse.","narrative":"Craig Healing Springs is a mountain spa complex in Craig County, Virginia, where visitors once drank mineral water and took curing baths. Yellow spring waters were noted in a 1796 deed, but the remote site was not developed until the Craig Healing Springs Company was incorporated in 1909. By 1920 the resort had largely taken its present form. Automobile travel brought new guests in the 1920s, and improvements in the mid-1930s included Oak Lodge, an enlarged Central building, cottages moved from the nearby Monte Vista resort, and a golf course. Most of the twenty-three surviving buildings are simple frame cottages and service buildings, including a row of commercial buildings with an original two-lane bowling alley. Changing vacation habits reduced its popularity after the 1940s. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Virginia bought it in 1960 and has kept it as a conference center. It is valued as a modest spa complex and as a model of adaptive reuse.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific dates: ca. 1885, 1909-1920, ca. 1935)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Simple frame construction in a homogenous style, resembling a summer camp more than a large resort","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"In use since 1960 as a conference and retreat center; original grounds, buildings and many furnishings carefully maintained. The Craig Hotel and golf course are gone or unmaintained.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.023723-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/79/6802/41680279/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/82004551.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004551/850df4950f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004551/850df4950f-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Craig_Healing_Springs.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Craig_Healing_Springs.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680279","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Healing_Springs","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712208"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/craig-county/craig-healing-springs-82004551/"}