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Lewisburg is named after Andrew Lewis, a young surveyor who
established a camp near an area spring in 1751. Lewisburg was
formally established in 1782 by an act of the Virginia General
Assembly. To accommodate
Virginians west of the mountains, several Virginia courts sat in
Lewisburg, where Patrick Henry once successfully defended a client.
The town and surrounding farms
prospered and a
number of spas and resort hotels were
established at some of the
outlying mineral springs.
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During the Civil War a number of
engagements were fought in and around Lewisburg. Several of the
present buildings in town were used as hospitals and barracks by both
sides in this conflict, and bullet marks can still be seen in some
today.
White Sulphur Springs grew in the first half of the nineteenth century
as the southern "Queen of the Watering Places." The hot springs resort
first became the standard summer destination for wealthy Virginia
low-country residents. As its popularity increased and it gained
status as a socially exclusive site, the spring attracted elite guests
from all areas of the South.
During the early 18th century, the area now known as Greenbrier County
was largely uninhabited, and it wasn't until 1740 that colonists began
to arrive. The county was officially chartered in 1782. Greenbrier
County's lumber roots can also be traced along the ancient buffalo
paths that ran through the county's undisturbed forests. These trails
led the first settlers into Greenbrier County and eventually brought
the Raine brothers, whom Rainelle is named for to form the Meadow
River Lumber Company in 1906. When the first Meadow River Lumber
Company mill was constructed, it was considered to be the largest mill
of its type in the world. Few people also know that golf began in
Greenbrier County - at least on this side of America. In 1884, the
first organized golf course began in White Sulphur Springs. |
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