By Beverly Belcher Woody
Last week, we closed with Colonel Werth’s passing in 1872. Sadly, when Colonel Werth died, the Patrick Springs Female College died too. The school had a successful run of twelve years which was remarkable because four of those years had been during the war.
The halls were silent for nearly two decades until William Hughes Clark converted the college into a resort in 1890. There is not much information available about the resort during the time that Clark managed it, but all that was about to change.
Royal Washington Morrison “Wash” was born in 1850 in the Mountain Valley section of Pittsylvania County to Bushrod and Mary Royal Morrison. Wash had grown quite wealthy in the tobacco industry in Danville where he lived with his wife, Annie Gravely Morrison.
After Annie’s untimely death, Wash purchased the resort and moved to Patrick Springs. Wash threw himself into converting the resort into the Patrick Springs Hotel. He added a bowling alley, a dance pavilion, and several cottages. These changes were quite successful because the Danbury Reporter edition of Thursday, July 27th, 1905 stated that there were sixty guests at the Patrick Springs Hotel for that week.
In the Wednesday, June 19, 1985 edition of The Enterprise, writer Suzie DuBree interviewed Mr. Isom Biggs who vividly recalled Wash and the Patrick Springs Hotel heyday. The following is an excerpt from that interview: “Mr. Wash Morrison was the proprietor of the Patrick Springs Hotel and he owned one of the few model T Fords in the area at that time. It was shiny black with an octagon shaped radiator and bright brass fittings. There were large wide running boards on each side from front to back wheel. Milton Hancock, the boy who drove for the hotel, would go over to the depot to meet the “Dick and Willie” train and care for the departures and arrivals. The luggage for these folks would often be piled high strapped onto the running boards. The roads were all dirt in 1914 and clouds of dust would billow up as the Model T traveled at a stately 20 miles per hour back to the hotel.”
This might be a good time to digress for just a minute. The first post office in this community was established in 1857 and was known as Spabrook Station. It was located in the vicinity of the springs. Two years later, the name was changed to Patrick Springs and in 1885, it was named Shuff out of respect for beloved Methodist minister, Jacob Shough. In 1925, the post office was again named Patrick Springs.
Now, back to Mr. Biggs interview. Biggs stated that “my brother George was one of the men who worked to have the name of the town changed back to Patrick Springs. One reason was this man was coming to see George on business and was traveling on the Dick and Willie. The man waited for the conductor to call out the stop for Shuff; however, the conductor called “all out for Patrick Springs” meaning the hotel. The gentleman found himself in Stuart and had to take the next train back to Shuff.”
Sadly, Wash passed away in his sleep at the hotel on the fifth of April 1925. In the full-page obituary in the Danville Bee, the writer stated that Wash would be remembered as the genial host at the Patrick Springs Hotel who did not put up with any nonsense. Wash never conducted a hotel in the modern sense of the word. The facilities were primitive, but the same people returned year after year for the rest, relaxation, and wholesome fare which made the hotel famous. Wash was a stern disciplinarian and required guests to conform to his rules and regulations. He led the square dances at his pavilion but never failed to caution those who undertook the more modern dance steps.
On May 14th, 1925, the Patrick Springs Hotel was sold at public auction. The purchasers were Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Hamilton, who owned a hotel in Henry County. The Raleigh News-Observer reported that the purchase price was $17,050 and the sale was attended by several hundred people from Virginia and North Carolina.
In the June 26th, 1925 edition of The Bee, the Hamiltons announced that they would be hosting “a large party with the same old-fashioned hospitality shown to guests in the past. There will be a spread of all good things of the season and the mountain orchestra will furnish music for the square dances on the pavilion.”
In 1963, Reverend Burl Washburn purchased the property and converted it into a Bible conference center and youth camp. Ten years later, a board of representatives from twelve churches incorporated the property as Springs of Life Camp & Retreat which it remains to this day. Wash Morrison would be pleased.
