Capon Springs Resort


Capon Springs, also known as Frye's Springs and Watson Town, is a national historic district in Capon Springs, West Virginia that includes a number of resort buildings ranging in age from the mid-nineteenth century to the early 20th century. The area grew around a mineral spring discovered by Henry Frye in the 1760s, so that by 1787 the town of Watson had been established. By 1850, the 168-room Mountain House Hotel had been built, enduring until it burned in 1911. Also in 1850, the state of Virginia built Greek Revival bath pavilions and the President's House. A period of decline followed the Mountain House fire, but rebuilding began in the 1930s under the ownership of Louis Austin. The resort is still in Austin family ownership.
The resort was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
In 2013, the resort was named West Virginia's Family-Owned Business of the Year.