Thompson's Bromine and Arsenic Springs
Also known as: Healing Springs
Why it's listed
Thompson's Bromine and Arsenic Springs is a former mineral springs resort in a small stream valley near Crumpler, in Ashe County. Tradition holds that Willie Barker found the springs in 1885. Captain H. V. Thompson of Virginia then developed them, advertising the water as a cure and bottling it for shipment by wagon to a railroad station about 35 miles away. A two-story frame hotel was built in 1887. Around it grew an octagonal spring house built about 1900, a bath house, and rows of frame cabins added through about 1930. The hotel operated until it burned in about an hour in 1962. Its contents were lost in place, and the site has not been disturbed since. Listing recognizes the complex as a surviving example of the mineral spring resorts that served as health retreats and social gathering places, and it highlights the hotel ruins as a rare, undisturbed archaeological record.
Significance in brief: The nomination presents the springs as a good representative of the mineral spring resorts that served as health and social centers in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, of which few survive. The burned hotel site is especially significant archaeologically because the contents burned and collapsed in place and the site has not been disturbed since the 1962 fire. It could yield information about how a specialized spa hotel operated.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 76001299, listed October 22, 1976. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | W of Crumpler on SR 1542, Crumpler |
|---|---|
| County | Ashe County |
| Listed | October 22, 1976 |
| Reference number | 76001299 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 and 1900-1999 (specific dates ca. 1887, ca. 1900, ca. 1920) |
| Areas of significance | Historic - Non-Aboriginal, Entertainment/Recreation |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The hotel burned to the ground in 1962 and the site is undisturbed; the spring house, bath house and cabins remain, and the form marks the property as unoccupied. |
| Acreage | 8 |
| Coordinates | 36.50248, -81.39556 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 76001299.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18158792
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.