The Hotel Warm Springs, Warm Springs, Georgia.
One of the smallest, and to me, most interesting of Georgia's small towns is Warm Springs. I think it's one of the state's best-kept secrets.
The commercial district is a single block long, anchored at one end by the Hotel Warm Springs Bed and Breakfast, and at the other end, across the street, the Bulloch House Restaurant. Both sides of the street are lined with small shops selling a wide variety of goods.
The big draw at Warm Springs, however, is located about a half-mile out of town. It's Franklin D. Roosevelt's Little White House.
Roosevelt first came to Warm Springs in 1924, hoping that the 88-degree spring waters would cure the polio that had struck him in 1921. The waters helped but were not a cure. Nevertheless, he kept coming back, making 41 trips between 1924 and his death.
In 1932, while governor of New York, he had a six-room house built at Warm Springs, the only house he ever owned. He died of a stroke at the Little White House in 1945, with World War II victory in sight.
Franklin D. Roosevelt statue, Dowdell Knob, Pine Mountain.
Visitors can tour his carefully preserved home, open from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. The admission charge is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, $7 for ages 6–17, and $2 for ages five and under.
When Roosevelt
visited Warm Springs, the Hotel Warm Springs was home to his staff, the press, and international
dignitaries. As a photographer, I had the interesting privilege of spending two
nights in a room whose bathtub was used by newspaper photographers to process their
film.
Built in 1907, the hotel has, since 1988, been owned, operated, and extensively and authentically restored by vibrantly active septuagenarian Gerrie Thompson. It features rooms furnished with antiques and furniture made in Eleanor Roosevelt's family's furniture factory. A "Southern Breakfast Feast" and evening refreshments are part of the package, and an ice cream parlor and fudge shop are on the premises.
The original Bulloch House was built in 1893 by Benjamin F. Bulloch, cofounder of Warm Springs. It was converted into a restaurant in 1990, and was purchased by Peter and Sandy Lampert in 2011, who continue the Bulloch House's tradition of fine Southern cuisine. The house burned to the ground in 2015, but the Lamperts moved the business to the storefront at 70 Broad Street and carried right on, featuring an all-you-can-eat buffet lunch on Tuesdays through Sundays and dinner on Fridays and Saturdays.
Warm Springs is just a short distance from Pine Mountain and Callaway Gardens. It's well worth a trip or a side trip.
(The photograph of Hotel Warm Springs was made with a Minolta twin-lens reflex camera and Fujichrome 120 film.)
Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia
are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal
address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943
Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how
you would like your book inscribed.
Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/ Looking is free, and you might find something you like.
Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.
I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.
Cathy and I made a pilgrimage there a few years back and went to Pine Mountain saw the liberty Bell pool…. It was a good trip
ReplyDeleteNothing spectacular, but it's a neat place to go.
Delete