Follow the lantern.

Where the Springs Run Warm and the Spirits Run Deep, Old Secrets Still Walk the Streets.

People were coming to these waters long before there was a town to come to. Then the town arrived, and it has been burning down and getting back up ever since.

Berkeley Springs has been a resort, a Civil War encampment, a castle-builder’s folly and a very unlucky place to own a hotel. The records keep the dates. The rest is told on foot.

The record

A short history of a long night

Every date here can be looked up. Marked entries are the fires.

1776
On December 6 the Virginia House of Burgesses establishes the Town of Bath, on fifty acres around the springs deeded over by the sixth Lord Fairfax. George Washington is among those who buy property here.
1844
Most of the buildings on the main street burn.
1862
Stonewall Jackson bases his forces in town during an attack on Hancock, Maryland.
1885
The first stone is laid for the castle of Colonel Samuel Taylor Suit and his wife, Rosa.
1890
The St. Elmo Hotel is destroyed.
1898
The Berkeley Springs Hotel is destroyed. The same year, with lawsuits and debts closing in, Rosa Suit begins renting out her castle.
1901
The Fairfax Inn is destroyed.
1925
The Palace Theater is destroyed.
1928
A new picture house opens as the Berkeley Theatre. It is known today as the Star.

After dark

The places that stayed

Bring the light closer.

A crenellated stone castle with a round tower, seen through bare trees. — **Berkeley Springs Castle** Begun in 1885. By 1898 Rosa Suit was renting it out. Some of the tenants, they say, never gave notice.

A theatre marquee glowing at night, with a tall neon STAR sign. — **Historic Star Theatre** Pictures have played here since 1928. They say not everyone leaves when the lights come up.

A columned brick inn lit from below at night, behind a picket fence. — **The Country Inn** For more than ninety years it has faced the old springs. After the last guest turns in, the porch rockers don’t always stop.

A single weathered headstone standing on a grassy slope. — **Old German Cemetery** Set aside in 1777 for a German church that never seems to have risen. The congregation came anyway.

A white Gothic Revival house with lace-like trim on a steep hill, under streaked clouds. — **The Old Funeral Home** The doors closed years ago. Calling hours, it seems, never ended.

A two-story brick Victorian house with a wide spindlework porch. — **Mendenhall 1884 Inn Bed and Breakfast** The house went up in 1884. The shed out back was already here, and it isn’t saying what it saw.

A sheer rock outcrop above forested mountains, with a rail line curving through the valley. — **Lovers’ Leap** The name is old. Who earned it is harder to say, and the wind at the edge isn’t telling.

Someone has to go first.

Join the walk

Come out after dark

Wear shoes you can walk in and bring whoever scares easiest. We’ll handle the rest.

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A lone figure walking down a dark, abandoned hallway.

Your turn to investigate

Ghost Hunt

The Ghost Walk tells the stories. The Ghost Hunt goes looking for them. This is an actual guided paranormal investigation, and you are the investigators. Your host hands you state-of-the-art ghost hunting equipment and leads you inside the old places with the lights off and the questions open. What answers is up to you.

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Who can come: Guests 16 and over

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A candlelit restaurant table set with a plated dish and wine glasses.

Taste the town

Food Tour

Berkeley Springs has been feeding weary travelers since its resort days. Walk the town and taste your way through four gastronomic locations, with ghost stories, local folklore and the town’s historic events served along the way.

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The wood-paneled interior of an old pub, with a bar and framed pictures on the walls.

Spirits of another kind

Pub Crawl

A town this old has plenty of spirits, and some of them come in a glass. Over four different pubs, your guide pours out the stories the history books left dry. Each guest will enjoy one libation of their choice at each location. Guests are responsible for their own drink.

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Who can come: Guests 21 and over

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