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Difference between revisions of "Bath/Bathhouse"

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===Usage===
 
===Usage===
  
Anonymous, 28 July 1733, describing a plantation  
+
* Anonymous, 28 July 1733, describing a plantation for sale in Charleston, S.C. (South Carolina Gazette)  
for sale in Charleston, S.C. (South Carolina  
 
Gazette)  
 
  
“A Plantation about two Miles above Goose-
+
: “A Plantation about two Miles above Goose-Creek Bridge . . . [had] a Spring within 3 Stones throw of the House, intended for a Cold Bath.”  
Creek Bridge . . . [had] a Spring within 3 Stones  
 
throw of the House, intended for a Cold Bath.”  
 
  
Anonymous, 6 February 1746, describing in the
 
Boston Weekly News-Letter the property of John
 
Welch, Boston, Mass. (quoted in Benes 1996: 53)
 
  
“TO BE LETT, (exclusive of the Bath-House)
+
* Anonymous, 6 February 1746, describing in the Boston Weekly News-Letter the property of John Welch, Boston, Mass. (quoted in Benes 1996: 53)
The Bath-Garden, at the Westerly Part of the
 
Town, which has for many Years been improv’d as
 
a public Garden, and contains a Variety of the best
 
Fruit-Trees, a great Quantity of Currant and
 
Gooseberry Bushes, some of the best Grape Vines,
 
a handsome Summer-House, Glasses for Hot-
 
Beds, &c Enquire of John Welch, and know further.  
 
N.B. The Cold Bath is in good Order for Use
 
and has been found beneficial to several that have
 
used it, even this Winter-Season: Price 40 Shillings
 
a Year or 5 Shillings each single Time, old Tenor.”
 
  
Jefferson, Thomas, 1771, describing Monticello,  
+
: “TO BE LETT, (exclusive of the Bath-House) The Bath-Garden, at the Westerly Part of the Town, which has for many Years been improv’d as a public Garden, and contains a Variety of the best Fruit-Trees, a great Quantity of Currant and Gooseberry Bushes, some of the best Grape Vines, a handsome Summer-House, Glasses for Hot-Beds, &c Enquire of John Welch, and know further. N.B. The Cold Bath is in good Order for Use and has been found beneficial to several that have used it, even this Winter-Season: Price 40 Shillings a Year or 5 Shillings each single Time, old Tenor.”
plantation of Thomas Jefferson, Charlottesville,  
 
Va. (1944: 26)
 
  
“a few feet below the spring level the ground
 
40 or 50 f. sq. let the water fall from the spring in
 
the upper level over a terrace in the form of a cascade. then conduct it along the foot of the terrace
 
to the Western side of the level, where it may fall
 
into a cistern under a temple, from which it may
 
go off by the western border till it falls over
 
another terrace at the Northern or lower side. let
 
the temple be raised 2. f. for the first floor of stone.
 
under this is the cistern, which may be a bath or
 
anything else. the 1st story arches on three sides;
 
the back or western side being close because the
 
hill there comes down, and also to carry up stairs
 
on the outside. the 2d story to have a door on one
 
side, a spacious window in each of the other sides,
 
the rooms each 8. f. cube; with a small table and a
 
couple of chairs. the roof may be Chinese, Grecian,
 
or in the taste of the Lantern of Demosthenes
 
at Athens.”
 
  
Quincy, Josiah, 3 May 1773, describing the
+
* Jefferson, Thomas, 1771, describing Monticello, plantation of Thomas Jefferson, Charlottesville, Va. (1944: 26)  
country seat of John Dickensen, near Philadelphia,  
 
Pa. (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; hereafter
 
CWF)  
 
  
“This worthy and arch-politician ...here
+
: “a few feet below the spring level the ground 40 or 50 f. sq. let the water fall from the spring in the upper level over a terrace in the form of a cascade. then conduct it along the foot of the terrace to the Western side of the level, where it may fall into a cistern under a temple, from which it may go off by the western border till it falls over another terrace at the Northern or lower side. let the temple be raised 2. f. for the first floor of stone. under this is the cistern, which may be a bath or anything else. the 1st story arches on three sides; the back or western side being close because the hill there comes down, and also to carry up stairs on the outside. the 2d story to have a door on one side, a spacious window in each of the other sides, the rooms each 8. f. cube; with a small table and a couple of chairs. the roof may be Chinese, Grecian, or in the taste of the Lantern of Demosthenes at Athens.”  
enjoys otium cum dignitate as much as any man.
 
Take into consideration the antique look of his
 
house, his gardens, green-house, bathing-house,  
 
grotto, study, fish-pond, fields, meadows, vista,
 
through which is distant prospect of Delaware
 
River.”  
 
  
Carroll (of Carrollton), Charles, 24 May
 
1778, in a letter to his father, Charles Carroll (of
 
Annapolis), describing the Carroll Garden,
 
Annapolis, Md. (Maryland Historical Society,
 
  
A. E. Carroll Papers, ms. 206, no.479)
+
* Quincy, Josiah, 3 May 1773, describing the country seat of John Dickensen, near Philadelphia, Pa. (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; hereafter CWF)
“If Joe has finished all the Jobbs at Annapolis, I
 
wish you would set him about preparing stones to
 
line a cold bath; the stones already raised at the soap stone quarry would be sufficient for this purpose,  
 
as the bath need not be in the clear more
 
than 10 feet long & 8 broad & 4 feet 6 inches deep.  
 
When I return I will direct where it shall be dug.”
 
  
Peters, Samuel, 1782, describing Stafford
+
: “This worthy and arch-politician ...here enjoys otium cum dignitate as much as any man. Take into consideration the antique look of his house, his gardens, green-house, bathing-house, grotto, study, fish-pond, fields, meadows, vista, through which is distant prospect of Delaware River.
Springs, Conn. (quoted in Bridenbaugh 1946: 153)
 
  
“the New England Bath, where the sick and
 
rich resort to prolong life and acquire the polite
 
accomplishments.”
 
  
Anonymous, 28 April 1786, describing in the  
+
* Carroll (of Carrollton), Charles, 24 May 1778, in a letter to his father, Charles Carroll (of Annapolis), describing the Carroll Garden, Annapolis, Md. (Maryland Historical Society, A. E. Carroll Papers, ms. 206, no.479)  
Charleston Morning Post, and Daily Advertiser a
 
new bathing house in Charleston, S.C. (CWF)  
 
  
“A Bathing House BEING about to be erected
+
: “If Joe has finished all the Jobbs at Annapolis, I wish you would set him about preparing stones to line a cold bath; the stones already raised at the soap stone quarry would be sufficient for this purpose, as the bath need not be in the clear more than 10 feet long & 8 broad & 4 feet 6 inches deep. When I return I will direct where it shall be dug.”  
at the Retreat, those Gentlemen who wish to  
 
become subscribers, are requested to leave their
 
name and the Needful at the said place, as speedily
 
as possible. . . . Many attempts have been made to
 
establish a BATHING HOUSE, but none of them
 
have succeeded, and when it is recollected that in
 
this climate, such an Establishment would be in  
 
the highest degree beneficial, it seems truly astonishing
 
. . . in a considerable measure by this reflection,
 
the Subscriber now issues Proposals for the
 
erection of a permanent and elegant BATHING
 
HOUSE.”  
 
  
Peale, Charles Willson, June 1788, describing
 
Annapolis, Md. (Miller, Hart, and Appel, eds.,
 
1983: 1:498)
 
  
“being invited to dine with the fish Club, I
+
* Peters, Samuel, 1782, describing Stafford Springs, Conn. (quoted in Bridenbaugh 1946: 153)  
took my Gun for further Amusement; the club
 
had a marqui fixed opposite the Cool Spring
 
(bath House) on the other side of the creek.
 
They have skittle Ground and qu[o]ites to amuse
 
themselves.”
 
  
Chapman, Thomas, 1795–96, describing a plantation
+
: “the New England Bath, where the sick and rich resort to prolong life and acquire the polite accomplishments.
near Harrodsburg, Ky. (quoted in Schwaab
 
1973: 28)
 
  
“Colonel Nicholas’s Plantation is in a higher
 
State of Improvement than any other in the State
 
of Kentucky. Exclusive of a good Framed Commodious
 
House, a famous Spring Dairey [sic],
 
where Milk can be kept cool in the hotest [sic] Day
 
of Summer, there is a large Barn, Stable, and out
 
Offices, and a large Grist Mill, supplied with
 
Water from the same Spring wch [sic] passes
 
through the Spring House. There is also a bathing
 
House connected with the Dairey [sic], and an
 
Apple Orchard of 400 Young thriving Trees.”
 
  
Bentley, William, 12 July 1797, describing
+
* Anonymous, 28 April 1786, describing in the Charleston Morning Post, and Daily Advertiser a new bathing house in Charleston, S.C. (CWF)  
Salem, Mass. (1962: 2:228)  
 
  
“12. Plenty of Mackerel in the market at 6 cents
+
: “A Bathing House BEING about to be erected at the Retreat, those Gentlemen who wish to become subscribers, are requested to leave their name and the Needful at the said place, as speedily as possible. . . . Many attempts have been made to establish a BATHING HOUSE, but none of them have succeeded, and when it is recollected that in this climate, such an Establishment would be in the highest degree beneficial, it seems truly astonishing . . . in a considerable measure by this reflection, the Subscriber now issues Proposals for the erection of a permanent and elegant BATHING HOUSE.”  
pr. lb. A Bath house is begun on the back of our
 
land which is to extend 64 feet upon B., & to have  
 
eight apartments. The success is doubtful for it is  
 
said such a thing much talked of was not much
 
used when gotten.”  
 
  
Dwight, Timothy, 1799, describing a lunatic asylum
 
in New York, N.Y. (1822: 3:454)
 
  
“Among its conveniences are an excellent garden,  
+
* Peale, Charles Willson, June 1788, describing Annapolis, Md. (Miller, Hart, and Appel, eds., 1983: 1:498)
fruit trees, walks, a large ice-house, bathing-
 
house, and stables.
 
  
Anonymous, 18 April 1800, describing in the Federal
+
: “being invited to dine with the fish Club, I took my Gun for further Amusement; the club had a marqui fixed opposite the Cool Spring (bath House) on the other side of the creek. They have skittle Ground and qu[o]ites to amuse themselves.
Gazette Willow Brook, seat of John Donnell,
 
Baltimore, Md. (quoted in Sarudy 1989: 137)
 
  
“In the garden is a neat wooden house, with a
 
twelve foot passage, and five rooms: a gardener’s
 
house, a fish pond well stocked with fish, and an
 
elegant bath with two dressing springs of fine soft
 
water.”
 
  
Bentley, William, 1800 and 1802, describing  
+
* Chapman, Thomas, 1795–96, describing a plantation near Harrodsburg, Ky. (quoted in Schwaab 1973: 28)  
Salem, Mass. (1962: 2:339, 437)  
 
  
“31. [May 1800] The weather begins to feel like
+
: “Colonel Nicholas’s Plantation is in a higher State of Improvement than any other in the State of Kentucky. Exclusive of a good Framed Commodious House, a famous Spring Dairey [sic], where Milk can be kept cool in the hotest [sic] Day of Summer, there is a large Barn, Stable, and out Offices, and a large Grist Mill, supplied with Water from the same Spring wch [sic] passes through the Spring House. There is also a bathing House connected with the Dairey [sic], and an Apple Orchard of 400 Young thriving Trees.
Summer. I bathed in the river this evening, & the  
 
Bath House was opened for the first time. . . .  
 
  
“July 1 [1802] walked down Seargeant’s new
 
wharf, which is now the best in the Town. Near it,
 
eastward, is a bathing house for salt water, lately
 
erected for females, but little used.”
 
  
Latrobe, Benjamin Henry, 26 March 1805,  
+
* Bentley, William, 12 July 1797, describing Salem, Mass. (1962: 2:228)  
describing a design for a house in Philadelphia,  
 
Pa. (CWF)  
 
  
“From the kitchen a door leads to the Back
+
: “12. Plenty of Mackerel in the market at 6 cents pr. lb. A Bath house is begun on the back of our land which is to extend 64 feet upon B., & to have eight apartments. The success is doubtful for it is said such a thing much talked of was not much used when gotten.”  
stairs, which communicate immediately with the
 
Dining room, and the Lady’s apartment above
 
stairs. At the foot of these stairs is a small room,
 
which can be well adapted to the purpose of a
 
bath, or a store room.”  
 
  
Caldwell, John Edwards, 1808, describing Hot
 
Springs, Va. (1951: 31)
 
  
“The Hot Springs are in Bath county, 36 miles
+
* Dwight, Timothy, 1799, describing a lunatic asylum in New York, N.Y. (1822: 3:454)
from the Sweet Springs. Here are three baths, one
 
of vital heat, or 96 degrees of Farenheit’s thermometer:
 
one of 104o, and it is said that the
 
hottest is 112o, and sufficiently hot to boil an egg.  
 
The patient, on coming out of the two latter, is
 
wrapped up in blankets, and lies stewing in the
 
sweating room adjoining the bath, until the perspiration
 
has freely spent itself from every pore of
 
the body.
 
  
Peale, Charles Willson, 29 July 1810, in a letter
+
: “Among its conveniences are an excellent garden, fruit trees, walks, a large ice-house, bathing-house, and stables.
to his son, Rembrandt Peale, describing Belfield,
 
estate of Charles Willson Peale, Germantown, Pa.
 
(Miller, Hart, and Ward, eds., 1991: 3:55)
 
  
“The Barn and one of the Barracks on the
 
West, the Coach-House near the Center, Spring-
 
house on the East side and the Bath House below
 
it. There is 4 large Popplers (Tulip Tree) which
 
crosses the Road, and the Lumbardy Poppler a
 
row of them on your right hand. Just above the
 
bath-House is a small fish pond with about 200
 
Catfish which I brought from the falls of
 
Schulkill.”
 
  
Anonymous, 24 April 1813, describing Norfolk,  
+
* Anonymous, 18 April 1800, describing in the Federal Gazette Willow Brook, seat of John Donnell, Baltimore, Md. (quoted in Sarudy 1989: 137)  
Va. (Norfolk Gazette and Publick Ledger)  
 
  
“PUBLIC BATHS AND GARDEN, OPPOSITE
+
: “In the garden is a neat wooden house, with a twelve foot passage, and five rooms: a gardener’s house, a fish pond well stocked with fish, and an elegant bath with two dressing springs of fine soft water.
THE THEATRE.  
 
  
“The subscriber, ever grateful to his friends
 
and the public in general for their past favors,
 
takes this method of informing them that his
 
Baths will be opened every day (when fair) from 6
 
  
A.M. to 9 P.M. He flatters himself that by the
+
* Bentley, William, 1800 and 1802, describing Salem, Mass. (1962: 2:339, 437)  
neatness and promptitude which he will exert
 
himself in serving those who will favor him with
 
their custom, to merit the public patronage. The
 
price for Baths, as heretofore, three for one dollar;
 
37 1-2 cents for a single one.”
 
Anonymous, 18 September 1813, describing in the
 
City Gazette and Commercial Daily Advertiser a
 
proposed bathhouse in Charleston, S.C. (CWF)  
 
  
“A splendid Establishment. The subscriber has
+
: “31. [May 1800] The weather begins to feel like Summer. I bathed in the river this evening, & the Bath House was opened for the first time. . . .
it in contemplation to erect at the East Bay in this  
+
:“July 1 [1802] walked down Seargeant’s new wharf, which is now the best in the Town. Near it, eastward, is a bathing house for salt water, lately erected for females, but little used.”  
city a CIRCULAR FLOATING BATHING
 
HOUSE, on a new, highly approved, extensive and
 
elegant plan—to go into operation in the season
 
of 1814. It will be 250 feet in circumference, built of
 
the best materials, and in the most substantial
 
manner, forming a beautiful structure, which
 
(besides increasing the resources of health and
 
pleasure) will be greatly ornamental to the city. It
 
will contain FORTY capacitus private bathing  
 
rooms, lighted by VENETIAN windows: a large
 
SWIMMING bath in the centre, of about 160 feet
 
circumference: FORTY dressing CLOSETS
 
attached to the swimming bath: two spacious SITTING
 
rooms, one for the accommodation of
 
LADIES, and the other for GENTLEMEN.”  
 
  
Anonymous, 29 March 1815, describing a sale in
 
Richmond, Va. (Daily Compiler)
 
  
“MARBLE MANTLES FOR SALE. A number
+
* Latrobe, Benjamin Henry, 26 March 1805, describing a design for a house in Philadelphia, Pa. (CWF)
of elegant marble Mantles, from Philadelphia, at
 
the house formerly occupied as a Bathing house,  
 
on the cross street leading to Mayo’s Bridge.
 
  
Lambert, John, 1816, describing Charleston, S.C.  
+
: “From the kitchen a door leads to the Back stairs, which communicate immediately with the Dining room, and the Lady’s apartment above stairs. At the foot of these stairs is a small room, which can be well adapted to the purpose of a bath, or a store room.
(2:139–40)
 
  
“The garden dignified by the name Vauxhall is
 
also under the direction of Mr. Placide. It is situated
 
in Broad-street, a short distance from the
 
theatre, surrounded by a brick wall, but possesses
 
no decoration worthy of notice. It is not to be
 
compared even with the common tea-gardens in
 
the vicinity of London. There are some warm and
 
cold baths on one side for the accomodation of
 
the inhabitants. . . . The heavy dews and vapours
 
which arise from the swamps and marshes in its
 
neighbourhood, after a hot day, are highly injurious
 
to the constitution, particularly while it is
 
inflamed by the wine and spirituous liquors which
 
are drunk in the garden. It is, also, the period of
 
the sickly season when the garden is open for public
 
amusement, and the death of many performers
 
and visitors may be ascribed to the entertainments
 
given at that place.”
 
  
Paulding, James Kirke, 1816, describing Warm
+
* Caldwell, John Edwards, 1808, describing Hot Springs, Va. (1951: 31)  
Springs (Berkeley Springs), Va. (later W.Va.)
 
(1817: 1:167, 169; 2:235)  
 
  
“[Vol. 1]. The bath here is the most luxurious of
+
: “The Hot Springs are in Bath county, 36 miles from the Sweet Springs. Here are three baths, one of vital heat, or 96 degrees of Farenheit’s thermometer: one of 104o, and it is said that the hottest is 112o, and sufficiently hot to boil an egg. The patient, on coming out of the two latter, is wrapped up in blankets, and lies stewing in the sweating room adjoining the bath, until the perspiration has freely spent itself from every pore of the body.
any in the world; its temperature about that of the  
 
body, its purity almost equal to that of the circumambient
 
air: and the fixed air plays against the skin,  
 
in a manner that tickles the fancy wonderfully. . . .  
 
  
“The bath is about thirty feet in diameter,
 
forming an octagon, walled two or three feet
 
above the water’s edge; the bottom covered with
 
pebbles, and the water so pure, that if it were only
 
deeper, a man’s head would turn in looking down
 
into it. . . .
 
  
“[Vol. 2]. There is a pavilion built over the
+
* Peale, Charles Willson, 29 July 1810, in a letter to his son, Rembrandt Peale, describing Belfield, estate of Charles Willson Peale, Germantown, Pa. (Miller, Hart, and Ward, eds., 1991: 3:55)
spring, which is used for drinking, and two bathhouses—
 
one for either sex. The spring which supplies
 
the ladies’ bath is one of the finest I have ever
 
seen. It bursts from a fissure in the rock in the
 
form of a cone, much larger than the crown of a
 
hat, and, together with the others, forms a fine
 
stream, in some places six or eight yards wide.
 
  
Warden, David Bailie, 1816, describing Bladensburg,  
+
: “The Barn and one of the Barracks on the West, the Coach-House near the Center, Spring-house on the East side and the Bath House below it. There is 4 large Popplers (Tulip Tree) which crosses the Road, and the Lumbardy Poppler a row of them on your right hand. Just above the bath-House is a small fish pond with about 200 Catfish which I brought from the falls of Schulkill.
Md. (p. 160)
 
  
“The mineral spring is pleasantly situated on
 
the side of the stream, near a fine clump of trees at
 
the entrance of the village. It would not require
 
much expense to make this an agreeable watering
 
place. . . . By means of a thermometer, which Mr.
 
Diggs politely procured, we found the temperature
 
of the water to be 55 1/2°. Some years ago, a
 
public bath was constructed near the spring, but
 
the temperature was found to be disagreeably
 
cold, and it was entirely abandoned.”
 
  
Deford, William, 5 May 1819, describing in the
+
* Anonymous, 24 April 1813, describing Norfolk, Va. (Norfolk Gazette and Publick Ledger)
  
American Beacon and Norfolk & Portsmouth Daily
+
: “PUBLIC BATHS AND GARDEN, OPPOSITE THE THEATRE.
Advertiser Wigwam Gardens in Norfolk, Va.
+
:“The subscriber, ever grateful to his friends and the public in general for their past favors, takes this method of informing them that his Baths will be opened every day (when fair) from 6 A.M. to 9 P.M. He flatters himself that by the neatness and promptitude which he will exert himself in serving those who will favor him with their custom, to merit the public patronage. The price for Baths, as heretofore, three for one dollar; 37 1-2 cents for a single one.”
(CWF)  
 
  
“Bathing imparts new vigour and elasticity to
 
the system——It is the grand restorative of nature.”
 
Public Bathing house. THE Subscriber having, at
 
a considerable expense, and with much personal
 
labour, put his BATHS in such order as to render
 
them worthy of the public attention, hopes to
 
receive that remuneration which h[i]s efforts
 
merit, and which, he feels assured, a prudent
 
regard to the preservation of their health, will
 
ensure to him, from his fellow citizens.
 
  
“In his arrangements for the Season, which
+
* Anonymous, 18 September 1813, describing in the City Gazette and Commercial Daily Advertiser a proposed bathhouse in Charleston, S.C. (CWF)
commenced on the 1st ins. he flatters himself, that
 
he has neglected nothing which may be necessary
 
to recommend his Baths for cleanliness, convenience,
 
privacy, or attendance, and Ladies and Gentlemen
 
can be accommodated at any hour, with
 
Hot, Cold, or Tepid Baths, as may be best adapted
 
to their health or taste.
 
  
Anonymous, 22 March 1820, describing in the  
+
: “A splendid Establishment. The subscriber has it in contemplation to erect at the East Bay in this city a CIRCULAR FLOATING BATHING HOUSE, on a new, highly approved, extensive and elegant plan—to go into operation in the season of 1814. It will be 250 feet in circumference, built of the best materials, and in the most substantial manner, forming a beautiful structure, which (besides increasing the resources of health and pleasure) will be greatly ornamental to the city. It will contain FORTY capacitus private bathing rooms, lighted by VENETIAN windows: a large SWIMMING bath in the centre, of about 160 feet circumference: FORTY dressing CLOSETS attached to the swimming bath: two spacious SITTING rooms, one for the accommodation of LADIES, and the other for GENTLEMEN.”
City Gazette and Commercial Daily Advertiser a  
 
salt water bathing house proposal in Charleston,  
 
  
S.C. (CWF)
 
“SALT WATER BATHING HOUSE. Many
 
attempts have been made to establish a BATHING
 
  
HOUSE, but none of them have succeeded, and
+
* Anonymous, 29 March 1815, describing a sale in Richmond, Va. (Daily Compiler)
when it is recollected that in this climate, such an
 
Establishment would be in the highest degree beneficial,
 
it seems truly astonishing. ——in a considerable
 
measure by this reflection, the Subscriber
 
now issues Proposals for the erection of a permanent
 
and elegant BATHING HOUSE. It depends
 
upon the public whether his plans are carried into
 
execution or not. Should a sufficient number of
 
Subscribers be obtained, the work will be completed
 
by the latter end of May: but it is not necessary
 
that two hundred be obtained by the middle
 
of April.  
 
  
“The following is a brief sketch of the plan and
+
: “MARBLE MANTLES FOR SALE. A number of elegant marble Mantles, from Philadelphia, at the house formerly occupied as a Bathing house, on the cross street leading to Mayo’s Bridge.
situation: The Building will be erected at the East
 
end of Laurens street, a low water mark: the Foundation
 
to be made of Palmetto Logs, 46 feet
 
square, containing 14 private Baths, with a Bath in
 
the centre of 20 feet diameter: the bottom of the
 
baths to be floored: over the Dressing Room will
 
be a Platform and Railing, over which there will be
 
a Roof. There will be a Bridge leading form Laurens
 
street to the Bathing House.  
 
  
“Those Gentlemen who feel disposed to
 
encourage the undertaking are requested to subscribe
 
immediately.”
 
  
Silliman, Martha Trumbull, 1 September 1821,  
+
* Lambert, John, 1816, describing Charleston, S.C. (2:139–40)  
describing Monte Video, property of Daniel
 
Wadsworth, Avon, Conn. (quoted in Saunders
 
and Raye 1981: 20)  
 
  
“The place is a great deal handsomer than I
+
: The garden dignified by the name Vauxhall is also under the direction of Mr. Placide. It is situated in Broad-street, a short distance from the theatre, surrounded by a brick wall, but possesses no decoration worthy of notice. It is not to be compared even with the common tea-gardens in the vicinity of London. There are some warm and cold baths on one side for the accomodation of the inhabitants. . . . The heavy dews and vapours which arise from the swamps and marshes in its neighbourhood, after a hot day, are highly injurious to the constitution, particularly while it is inflamed by the wine and spirituous liquors which are drunk in the garden. It is, also, the period of the sickly season when the garden is open for public amusement, and the death of many performers and visitors may be ascribed to the entertainments given at that place.”
expected. The buildings are all Gothic. First there
 
is Uncles beautiful house; 2d the tower, 3d the cottage
 
& the barns 4th the boat house & 5th the  
 
bathing house 6th a grape house 7th an ice house &
 
8th the bee house & a Gothic gate.”  
 
  
Silliman, Benjamin, 1824, describing a fountain
 
in New Lebanon, N.Y. (pp. 46–47)
 
  
“This is a very remarkable fountain. Unlike
+
* Paulding, James Kirke, 1816, describing Warm Springs (Berkeley Springs), Va. (later W.Va.) (1817: 1:167, 169; 2:235)
most mineral waters, it issues from a high hill; the
 
water boils up in a space of ten feet wide, by three
 
and a half deep . . . the water discharged amounts
 
to eighteen barrels in a minute, and not only supplies
 
the baths very copiously, simply by running
 
down hill to them.”
 
  
Peale, Charles Willson, c. 1825, describing
+
: “[Vol. 1]. The bath here is the most luxurious of any in the world; its temperature about that of the body, its purity almost equal to that of the circumambient air: and the fixed air plays against the skin, in a manner that tickles the fancy wonderfully. . . .  
New York, N.Y. (Miller, Hart, and Ward, eds.,
+
: “The bath is about thirty feet in diameter, forming an octagon, walled two or three feet above the water’s edge; the bottom covered with pebbles, and the water so pure, that if it were only deeper, a man’s head would turn in looking down into it. . . .
2000: 5:247–48)
+
: “[Vol. 2]. There is a pavilion built over the spring, which is used for drinking, and two bathhouses—one for either sex. The spring which supplies
 +
the ladies’ bath is one of the finest I have ever seen. It bursts from a fissure in the rock in the form of a cone, much larger than the crown of a hat, and, together with the others, forms a fine stream, in some places six or eight yards wide.
  
“Peale went to a bathing house on the north
 
river, this building has a private as well as public
 
bathing places, for men or women. The cost of
 
public bathing is 12 1/2 Cts. and 25 Cents for private
 
bathing. . . .
 
  
“The public Bath is extended wings on each
+
* Warden, David Bailie, 1816, describing Bladensburg, Md. (p. 160)
side about 40 feet into the river on which there are
 
a range of boxes to dress and undress, these have
 
stairs with ropes to decend into the water on the 3
 
sides and at the end next the river is a sunken vessel
 
of an oblong square, and the debth of the water
 
therein is about 4 feet, for the accomdation of
 
those who cannot swim. In the private baths they
 
have the same kind of vessels which rise and fall
 
  
with the tide. You are furnished with a towel and
+
: “The mineral spring is pleasantly situated on the side of the stream, near a fine clump of trees at the entrance of the village. It would not require much expense to make this an agreeable watering place. . . . By means of a thermometer, which Mr. Diggs politely procured, we found the temperature of the water to be 55 1/2°. Some years ago, a public bath was constructed near the spring, but the temperature was found to be disagreeably cold, and it was entirely abandoned.
an oil cap for the head. They have warm baths for
 
those who want them. The[re] is another bathing
 
house on the same river, which at present is not in
 
order except for the accomodation of women.  
 
  
“If there were also Bathing houses on the east
 
river, and it was the custom generally for the
 
Inhabitants to make frequent use, especially during
 
the hot seasons, it would contribute much to
 
ward off those dreadful fevers which too oftain
 
afflict large Cities.”
 
  
du Pont, Sophie Madeleine, 21 July 1837,  
+
* Deford, William, 5 May 1819, describing in the American Beacon and Norfolk & Portsmouth Daily Advertiser Wigwam Gardens in Norfolk, Va. (CWF)  
describing Warm Springs (Berkeley Springs), Va.  
 
(later W.Va.) (quoted in Low and Hinsley 1987:
 
173, 179)  
 
  
“Warm Springs. . . . The most abundant of
+
: “Bathing imparts new vigour and elasticity to the system——It is the grand restorative of nature.” Public Bathing house. THE Subscriber having, at a considerable expense, and with much personal labour, put his BATHS in such order as to render them worthy of the public attention, hopes to receive that remuneration which h[i]s efforts merit, and which, he feels assured, a prudent regard to the preservation of their health, will ensure to him, from his fellow citizens.  
these gushes from the earth in the middle of a  
+
: “In his arrangements for the Season, which commenced on the 1st ins. he flatters himself, that he has neglected nothing which may be necessary to recommend his Baths for cleanliness, convenience, privacy, or attendance, and Ladies and Gentlemen can be accommodated at any hour, with Hot, Cold, or Tepid Baths, as may be best adapted to their health or taste.
large octagonal basin of mason work covered with
 
a wooden building having an opening at the top,  
 
& four neat & comfortable rooms on as many
 
sides for the accommodation of bathing. This
 
bath is thirty eight feet in diameter; & the temperature
 
of water 96 degrees—It is one of the most
 
curious & beautiful objects I have seen, the water
 
is pure & translucent to an almost dazzling degree,  
 
& rises in ceaseless flow, accompanied by showers
 
of bright gleaming air bubbles. . . .  
 
  
“There are several other springs of the same
 
kind in the meadow—round one a platform is
 
built with benches, under shady trees, for those
 
who drink the water, which notwithstanding its
 
odour of half spoiled eggs & its warmth, is not
 
very nauseous to the taste—Another bath house
 
contains four small baths, into one of which a
 
spout is arranged for the benefit of those who are
 
recommended to take douches. I have tried this at
 
Dr Horner’s request & think it of service to me, as
 
well as the bathing.” [Fig. 6]
 
  
Alcott, William A., August 1838, “Embellishment
+
* Anonymous, 22 March 1820, describing in the City Gazette and Commercial Daily Advertiser a salt water bathing house proposal in Charleston, S.C. (CWF)  
and Improvement of Towns and Villages”
 
(American Annals of Education 8: 343)  
 
  
“In all our larger cities and towns there should
+
:“SALT WATER BATHING HOUSE. Many attempts have been made to establish a BATHING HOUSE, but none of them have succeeded, and when it is recollected that in this climate, such an Establishment would be in the highest degree beneficial, it seems truly astonishing. ——in a considerable measure by this reflection, the Subscriber now issues Proposals for the erection of a permanent and elegant BATHING HOUSE. It depends upon the public whether his plans are carried into execution or not. Should a sufficient number of Subscribers be obtained, the work will be completed by the latter end of May: but it is not necessary that two hundred be obtained by the middle of April.  
be public baths, and custom should require their
+
: “The following is a brief sketch of the plan and situation: The Building will be erected at the East end of Laurens street, a low water mark: the Foundation to be made of Palmetto Logs, 46 feet square, containing 14 private Baths, with a Bath in the centre of 20 feet diameter: the bottom of the baths to be floored: over the Dressing Room will be a Platform and Railing, over which there will be a Roof. There will be a Bridge leading form Laurens street to the Bathing House.
daily use by those who have not the means of private
+
: “Those Gentlemen who feel disposed to encourage the undertaking are requested to subscribe immediately.”  
ones. And if we do not recommend public
 
bathing houses to every town and village of New
 
England, of every size, it is because we do humbly
 
hope our citizens will provide themselves with  
 
conveniences of the kind at their own expense,  
 
when they can be made to feel their importance.”  
 
  
Hovey, C. M., October 1850, “Notes on Gardens
 
and Nurseries,” describing a residence in Cambridge,
 
Mass. (Magazine of Horticulture 16: 462)
 
  
“The sailing pond, with the exception of the
+
* Silliman, Martha Trumbull, 1 September 1821, describing Monte Video, property of Daniel Wadsworth, Avon, Conn. (quoted in Saunders and Raye 1981: 20)
walks around the border, and the planting of a few
 
trees on the island in the centre, have been completed
 
since last year, and a fine boat-house, to
 
combine a bathing-house, &c., was now just
 
being finished.”
 
  
Watson, John Fanning, 1857, describing
+
: “The place is a great deal handsomer than I expected. The buildings are all Gothic. First there is Uncles beautiful house; 2d the tower, 3d the cottage & the barns 4th the boat house & 5th the bathing house 6th a grape house 7th an ice house & 8th the bee house & a Gothic gate.
Bathsheba’s Bath and Bower, Philadelphia, Pa.  
 
  
(1:411)  
+
 
“I had long heard traditional facts concerning  
+
* Silliman, Benjamin, 1824, describing a fountain in New Lebanon, N.Y. (pp. 46–47)
the rural beauty and charming scenes of  
+
 
Bathsheba’s bath and bower, as told among the  
+
: “This is a very remarkable fountain. Unlike most mineral waters, it issues from a high hill; the water boils up in a space of ten feet wide, by three and a half deep . . . the water discharged amounts to eighteen barrels in a minute, and not only supplies the baths very copiously, simply by running down hill to them.”
earliest recollections of the aged. They had heard  
+
 
their parents talk of going out over the Second  
+
 
street bridge into the country about the Society  
+
* Peale, Charles Willson, c. 1825, describing New York, N.Y. (Miller, Hart, and Ward, eds., 2000: 5:247–48)
hill, and there making their tea—regale at the  
+
 
above—named spring.”
+
: “Peale went to a bathing house on the north river, this building has a private as well as public bathing places, for men or women. The cost of public bathing is 12 1/2 Cts. and 25 Cents for private bathing. . . .
 +
: “The public Bath is extended wings on each side about 40 feet into the river on which there are a range of boxes to dress and undress, these have stairs with ropes to decend into the water on the 3 sides and at the end next the river is a sunken vessel of an oblong square, and the debth of the water therein is about 4 feet, for the accomdation of those who cannot swim. In the private baths they have the same kind of vessels which rise and fall with the tide. You are furnished with a towel and an oil cap for the head. They have warm baths for those who want them. The[re] is another bathing house on the same river, which at present is not in order except for the accomodation of women.
 +
: “If there were also Bathing houses on the east river, and it was the custom generally for the Inhabitants to make frequent use, especially during the hot seasons, it would contribute much to ward off those dreadful fevers which too oftain afflict large Cities.”
 +
 
 +
 
 +
* du Pont, Sophie Madeleine, 21 July 1837, describing Warm Springs (Berkeley Springs), Va. (later W.Va.) (quoted in Low and Hinsley 1987: 173, 179)
 +
 
 +
: “Warm Springs. . . . The most abundant of these gushes from the earth in the middle of a large octagonal basin of mason work covered with a wooden building having an opening at the top, & four neat & comfortable rooms on as many sides for the accommodation of bathing. This bath is thirty eight feet in diameter; & the temperature of water 96 degrees—It is one of the most curious & beautiful objects I have seen, the water is pure & translucent to an almost dazzling degree, & rises in ceaseless flow, accompanied by showers of bright gleaming air bubbles. . . .
 +
: “There are several other springs of the same kind in the meadow—round one a platform is built with benches, under shady trees, for those who drink the water, which notwithstanding its odour of half spoiled eggs & its warmth, is not very nauseous to the taste—Another bath house contains four small baths, into one of which a spout is arranged for the benefit of those who are recommended to take douches. I have tried this at Dr Horner’s request & think it of service to me, as well as the bathing.” [Fig. 6]
 +
 
 +
 
 +
* Alcott, William A., August 1838, “Embellishment and Improvement of Towns and Villages” (American Annals of Education 8: 343)
 +
 
 +
: “In all our larger cities and towns there should be public baths, and custom should require their daily use by those who have not the means of private ones. And if we do not recommend public bathing houses to every town and village of New England, of every size, it is because we do humbly hope our citizens will provide themselves with conveniences of the kind at their own expense, when they can be made to feel their importance.”
 +
 
 +
 
 +
* Hovey, C. M., October 1850, “Notes on Gardens and Nurseries,” describing a residence in Cambridge, Mass. (Magazine of Horticulture 16: 462)
 +
 
 +
: “The sailing pond, with the exception of the walks around the border, and the planting of a few trees on the island in the centre, have been completed since last year, and a fine boat-house, to combine a bathing-house, &c., was now just being finished.”
 +
 
 +
 
 +
* Watson, John Fanning, 1857, describing Bathsheba’s Bath and Bower, Philadelphia, Pa. (1:411)  
 +
 
 +
: “I had long heard traditional facts concerning the rural beauty and charming scenes of Bathsheba’s bath and bower, as told among the earliest recollections of the aged. They had heard their parents talk of going out over the Second street bridge into the country about the Society hill, and there making their tea—regale at the above—named spring.”
  
 
===Citations===
 
===Citations===

Revision as of 19:42, December 16, 2015

History

The bath and bathhouse in America had many forms, including private versions attached to houses or separately constructed in a garden, and public baths at resorts, in public gardens, and at the seaside. The term “bath” referred both to the structure covering the water and to the watering receptacle or pool itself. The structures were sometimes called bathhouses or bathing houses. Baths at natural sources of mineral waters were also referred to as spas and springs.

Although garden treatise literature contains few references to garden baths, other evidence indicates that the bathhouse held a prominent position in American ornamental landscapes. Baths were situated in public gardens, such as a public bath and garden in Norfolk, Va., or Bathsheba’s Bath and Bower in Philadelphia, and in many private gardens, such as John Donnell’s Willow Brook in Baltimore and Charles Willson Peale’s Belfield in Philadelphia. Baths at private estates might be simple, as suggested by the note in the South Carolina Gazette in 1733, of “frames, Planks, &c. to be fix’d in and about a Spring . . . intended for a Cold Bath.” They also could be quite substantial, as was Charles Carroll of Carrollton’s stone-lined bath, which he ordered in 1778 to measure ten by eight feet with a depth of four-and-ahalf feet. Few detailed descriptions of the architecture of these bathhouses survive, however. At Monte Video in Connecticut, the bathhouse was described merely as Gothic. More is known about the architecture of public baths, where the structures were larger and often quite elaborate. Many textual descriptions and images of baths survive because they were considered civic amenities, such as the bath at Castle Garden in New York [Fig. 1]. Samuel Vaughan’s 1787 plan for the town of Bath included “baths [at a] for company 5 by 18 feet that fills in 5 minutes & emties [sic] in four,” dressing rooms [b], two piazzas with seats [bb], a large bath for swimming [f], and a separate “Bath for Poor People [g]” [Fig. 2]. Sophie Madeleine du Pont in 1837 described and sketched a bathhouse at Warm Springs (Berkeley Springs), Va. (later W.Va.), with a thirty-foot octagonal masonry basin and four separate bathing rooms [Fig. 3].

Mineral springs were visited as early as 1669 when Massachusetts colonists took the waters at Lynn Red Spring, but it was not until the end of the French and Indian War that springs began to be developed widely as commercial establishments.1 A bath at Stafford Springs in Connecticut opened in 1765 and became, in the words of Samuel Peters, “where the sick and rich resort to prolong life, and acquire the polite accomplishments.”2 In addition to bathing, spas, such as Yellow Sulphur Springs, near Philadelphia, often included a variety of entertainments such as dining, dancing, and overnight lodging.3 Bathing, as a general practice, was argued to have healthful effects. J. B. Bordley wrote in 1798 that “[e]very family in this fine climate ought to have its bath. . . . Bathing moistens, soaks, washes, supples and refreshes the whole body.” At the age of 95, Charles Carroll of Carrollton credited his longevity to daily cold baths. When bathed in and imbibed, mineral waters rich in sulfur and iron were particularly renowned for their curative properties for ailments such as rheumatism, cholera, malaria, hysteria, gout, and digestive disorders. Du Pont, seeking relief from a back and knee ailment, took the waters of Warm Springs, and she described vividly the sulfur-rich water’s “odour of half spoiled eggs.”

As their popularity grew, accommodations and other facilities were built at many of the springs to cater to the travelers seeking rest and refreshment. These resorts often included elaborate gardens. In 1775, the Virginia Assembly laid out the town of Bath around a spring that had been owned by Lord Fairfax. Lots sold at 25 guineas each, and Bath included a theater, inns, and places to ride and play billiards. Charles Varlé’s landscape design for the town in 1809 [Fig. 4] included a reservoir or fountain “covered with a vine treliage in a form of a dome or copula,” a jet d’eau, a bowling green, and two labyrinths “contrived so as to be different in their issues and windings.” The town became a fashionable resort; visitors included Baron and Baroness de Riedesel and Mrs. Charles Carroll of Carrollton.4

The Bath resort community declined in popularity with the rise of the other Virginia springs in the Allegheny highlands described by Thomas Jefferson as “medicinal springs.” These springs became part of a social tour that lasted from July through mid-September. The tour generally started at Warm Springs, and continued on to Hot Springs, White Sulphur Springs, Sweet Springs, Salt Sulphur Springs, and Red Sulphur Springs.5 Lewis Miller’s sketch of Yellow Sulphur Springs illustrates accommodations, walks, benches, lighting, and other features for the recreation of the bathers [Fig. 5]. Historian Carl Bridenbaugh credits these resorts, at least in colonial times, with “promoting colonial union and . . . nourishing nascent Americanism.” He argues that, in addition to the springs’ appeal as salubrious escapes from humidity, heat, and noise, they offered the “most significant intercolonial meeting places. . . . [and] provided a powerful solvent of provincialism.”6 As some of the most elaborate landscape designs of the period suggest, resorts may also have done much to disseminate the fashion for baths and bathhouses in residential gardens as well.

-- Elizabeth Kryder-Reid

Texts

Usage

  • Anonymous, 28 July 1733, describing a plantation for sale in Charleston, S.C. (South Carolina Gazette)
“A Plantation about two Miles above Goose-Creek Bridge . . . [had] a Spring within 3 Stones throw of the House, intended for a Cold Bath.”


  • Anonymous, 6 February 1746, describing in the Boston Weekly News-Letter the property of John Welch, Boston, Mass. (quoted in Benes 1996: 53)
“TO BE LETT, (exclusive of the Bath-House) The Bath-Garden, at the Westerly Part of the Town, which has for many Years been improv’d as a public Garden, and contains a Variety of the best Fruit-Trees, a great Quantity of Currant and Gooseberry Bushes, some of the best Grape Vines, a handsome Summer-House, Glasses for Hot-Beds, &c Enquire of John Welch, and know further. N.B. The Cold Bath is in good Order for Use and has been found beneficial to several that have used it, even this Winter-Season: Price 40 Shillings a Year or 5 Shillings each single Time, old Tenor.”


  • Jefferson, Thomas, 1771, describing Monticello, plantation of Thomas Jefferson, Charlottesville, Va. (1944: 26)
“a few feet below the spring level the ground 40 or 50 f. sq. let the water fall from the spring in the upper level over a terrace in the form of a cascade. then conduct it along the foot of the terrace to the Western side of the level, where it may fall into a cistern under a temple, from which it may go off by the western border till it falls over another terrace at the Northern or lower side. let the temple be raised 2. f. for the first floor of stone. under this is the cistern, which may be a bath or anything else. the 1st story arches on three sides; the back or western side being close because the hill there comes down, and also to carry up stairs on the outside. the 2d story to have a door on one side, a spacious window in each of the other sides, the rooms each 8. f. cube; with a small table and a couple of chairs. the roof may be Chinese, Grecian, or in the taste of the Lantern of Demosthenes at Athens.”


  • Quincy, Josiah, 3 May 1773, describing the country seat of John Dickensen, near Philadelphia, Pa. (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; hereafter CWF)
“This worthy and arch-politician ...here enjoys otium cum dignitate as much as any man. Take into consideration the antique look of his house, his gardens, green-house, bathing-house, grotto, study, fish-pond, fields, meadows, vista, through which is distant prospect of Delaware River.”


  • Carroll (of Carrollton), Charles, 24 May 1778, in a letter to his father, Charles Carroll (of Annapolis), describing the Carroll Garden, Annapolis, Md. (Maryland Historical Society, A. E. Carroll Papers, ms. 206, no.479)
“If Joe has finished all the Jobbs at Annapolis, I wish you would set him about preparing stones to line a cold bath; the stones already raised at the soap stone quarry would be sufficient for this purpose, as the bath need not be in the clear more than 10 feet long & 8 broad & 4 feet 6 inches deep. When I return I will direct where it shall be dug.”


  • Peters, Samuel, 1782, describing Stafford Springs, Conn. (quoted in Bridenbaugh 1946: 153)
“the New England Bath, where the sick and rich resort to prolong life and acquire the polite accomplishments.”


  • Anonymous, 28 April 1786, describing in the Charleston Morning Post, and Daily Advertiser a new bathing house in Charleston, S.C. (CWF)
“A Bathing House BEING about to be erected at the Retreat, those Gentlemen who wish to become subscribers, are requested to leave their name and the Needful at the said place, as speedily as possible. . . . Many attempts have been made to establish a BATHING HOUSE, but none of them have succeeded, and when it is recollected that in this climate, such an Establishment would be in the highest degree beneficial, it seems truly astonishing . . . in a considerable measure by this reflection, the Subscriber now issues Proposals for the erection of a permanent and elegant BATHING HOUSE.”


  • Peale, Charles Willson, June 1788, describing Annapolis, Md. (Miller, Hart, and Appel, eds., 1983: 1:498)
“being invited to dine with the fish Club, I took my Gun for further Amusement; the club had a marqui fixed opposite the Cool Spring (bath House) on the other side of the creek. They have skittle Ground and qu[o]ites to amuse themselves.”


  • Chapman, Thomas, 1795–96, describing a plantation near Harrodsburg, Ky. (quoted in Schwaab 1973: 28)
“Colonel Nicholas’s Plantation is in a higher State of Improvement than any other in the State of Kentucky. Exclusive of a good Framed Commodious House, a famous Spring Dairey [sic], where Milk can be kept cool in the hotest [sic] Day of Summer, there is a large Barn, Stable, and out Offices, and a large Grist Mill, supplied with Water from the same Spring wch [sic] passes through the Spring House. There is also a bathing House connected with the Dairey [sic], and an Apple Orchard of 400 Young thriving Trees.”


  • Bentley, William, 12 July 1797, describing Salem, Mass. (1962: 2:228)
“12. Plenty of Mackerel in the market at 6 cents pr. lb. A Bath house is begun on the back of our land which is to extend 64 feet upon B., & to have eight apartments. The success is doubtful for it is said such a thing much talked of was not much used when gotten.”


  • Dwight, Timothy, 1799, describing a lunatic asylum in New York, N.Y. (1822: 3:454)
“Among its conveniences are an excellent garden, fruit trees, walks, a large ice-house, bathing-house, and stables.”


  • Anonymous, 18 April 1800, describing in the Federal Gazette Willow Brook, seat of John Donnell, Baltimore, Md. (quoted in Sarudy 1989: 137)
“In the garden is a neat wooden house, with a twelve foot passage, and five rooms: a gardener’s house, a fish pond well stocked with fish, and an elegant bath with two dressing springs of fine soft water.”


  • Bentley, William, 1800 and 1802, describing Salem, Mass. (1962: 2:339, 437)
“31. [May 1800] The weather begins to feel like Summer. I bathed in the river this evening, & the Bath House was opened for the first time. . . .
“July 1 [1802] walked down Seargeant’s new wharf, which is now the best in the Town. Near it, eastward, is a bathing house for salt water, lately erected for females, but little used.”


  • Latrobe, Benjamin Henry, 26 March 1805, describing a design for a house in Philadelphia, Pa. (CWF)
“From the kitchen a door leads to the Back stairs, which communicate immediately with the Dining room, and the Lady’s apartment above stairs. At the foot of these stairs is a small room, which can be well adapted to the purpose of a bath, or a store room.”


  • Caldwell, John Edwards, 1808, describing Hot Springs, Va. (1951: 31)
“The Hot Springs are in Bath county, 36 miles from the Sweet Springs. Here are three baths, one of vital heat, or 96 degrees of Farenheit’s thermometer: one of 104o, and it is said that the hottest is 112o, and sufficiently hot to boil an egg. The patient, on coming out of the two latter, is wrapped up in blankets, and lies stewing in the sweating room adjoining the bath, until the perspiration has freely spent itself from every pore of the body.”


  • Peale, Charles Willson, 29 July 1810, in a letter to his son, Rembrandt Peale, describing Belfield, estate of Charles Willson Peale, Germantown, Pa. (Miller, Hart, and Ward, eds., 1991: 3:55)
“The Barn and one of the Barracks on the West, the Coach-House near the Center, Spring-house on the East side and the Bath House below it. There is 4 large Popplers (Tulip Tree) which crosses the Road, and the Lumbardy Poppler a row of them on your right hand. Just above the bath-House is a small fish pond with about 200 Catfish which I brought from the falls of Schulkill.”


  • Anonymous, 24 April 1813, describing Norfolk, Va. (Norfolk Gazette and Publick Ledger)
“PUBLIC BATHS AND GARDEN, OPPOSITE THE THEATRE.
“The subscriber, ever grateful to his friends and the public in general for their past favors, takes this method of informing them that his Baths will be opened every day (when fair) from 6 A.M. to 9 P.M. He flatters himself that by the neatness and promptitude which he will exert himself in serving those who will favor him with their custom, to merit the public patronage. The price for Baths, as heretofore, three for one dollar; 37 1-2 cents for a single one.”


  • Anonymous, 18 September 1813, describing in the City Gazette and Commercial Daily Advertiser a proposed bathhouse in Charleston, S.C. (CWF)
“A splendid Establishment. The subscriber has it in contemplation to erect at the East Bay in this city a CIRCULAR FLOATING BATHING HOUSE, on a new, highly approved, extensive and elegant plan—to go into operation in the season of 1814. It will be 250 feet in circumference, built of the best materials, and in the most substantial manner, forming a beautiful structure, which (besides increasing the resources of health and pleasure) will be greatly ornamental to the city. It will contain FORTY capacitus private bathing rooms, lighted by VENETIAN windows: a large SWIMMING bath in the centre, of about 160 feet circumference: FORTY dressing CLOSETS attached to the swimming bath: two spacious SITTING rooms, one for the accommodation of LADIES, and the other for GENTLEMEN.”


  • Anonymous, 29 March 1815, describing a sale in Richmond, Va. (Daily Compiler)
“MARBLE MANTLES FOR SALE. A number of elegant marble Mantles, from Philadelphia, at the house formerly occupied as a Bathing house, on the cross street leading to Mayo’s Bridge.”


  • Lambert, John, 1816, describing Charleston, S.C. (2:139–40)
The garden dignified by the name Vauxhall is also under the direction of Mr. Placide. It is situated in Broad-street, a short distance from the theatre, surrounded by a brick wall, but possesses no decoration worthy of notice. It is not to be compared even with the common tea-gardens in the vicinity of London. There are some warm and cold baths on one side for the accomodation of the inhabitants. . . . The heavy dews and vapours which arise from the swamps and marshes in its neighbourhood, after a hot day, are highly injurious to the constitution, particularly while it is inflamed by the wine and spirituous liquors which are drunk in the garden. It is, also, the period of the sickly season when the garden is open for public amusement, and the death of many performers and visitors may be ascribed to the entertainments given at that place.”


  • Paulding, James Kirke, 1816, describing Warm Springs (Berkeley Springs), Va. (later W.Va.) (1817: 1:167, 169; 2:235)
“[Vol. 1]. The bath here is the most luxurious of any in the world; its temperature about that of the body, its purity almost equal to that of the circumambient air: and the fixed air plays against the skin, in a manner that tickles the fancy wonderfully. . . .
“The bath is about thirty feet in diameter, forming an octagon, walled two or three feet above the water’s edge; the bottom covered with pebbles, and the water so pure, that if it were only deeper, a man’s head would turn in looking down into it. . . .
“[Vol. 2]. There is a pavilion built over the spring, which is used for drinking, and two bathhouses—one for either sex. The spring which supplies

the ladies’ bath is one of the finest I have ever seen. It bursts from a fissure in the rock in the form of a cone, much larger than the crown of a hat, and, together with the others, forms a fine stream, in some places six or eight yards wide.”


  • Warden, David Bailie, 1816, describing Bladensburg, Md. (p. 160)
“The mineral spring is pleasantly situated on the side of the stream, near a fine clump of trees at the entrance of the village. It would not require much expense to make this an agreeable watering place. . . . By means of a thermometer, which Mr. Diggs politely procured, we found the temperature of the water to be 55 1/2°. Some years ago, a public bath was constructed near the spring, but the temperature was found to be disagreeably cold, and it was entirely abandoned.”


  • Deford, William, 5 May 1819, describing in the American Beacon and Norfolk & Portsmouth Daily Advertiser Wigwam Gardens in Norfolk, Va. (CWF)
“Bathing imparts new vigour and elasticity to the system——It is the grand restorative of nature.” Public Bathing house. THE Subscriber having, at a considerable expense, and with much personal labour, put his BATHS in such order as to render them worthy of the public attention, hopes to receive that remuneration which h[i]s efforts merit, and which, he feels assured, a prudent regard to the preservation of their health, will ensure to him, from his fellow citizens.
“In his arrangements for the Season, which commenced on the 1st ins. he flatters himself, that he has neglected nothing which may be necessary to recommend his Baths for cleanliness, convenience, privacy, or attendance, and Ladies and Gentlemen can be accommodated at any hour, with Hot, Cold, or Tepid Baths, as may be best adapted to their health or taste.”


  • Anonymous, 22 March 1820, describing in the City Gazette and Commercial Daily Advertiser a salt water bathing house proposal in Charleston, S.C. (CWF)
“SALT WATER BATHING HOUSE. Many attempts have been made to establish a BATHING HOUSE, but none of them have succeeded, and when it is recollected that in this climate, such an Establishment would be in the highest degree beneficial, it seems truly astonishing. ——in a considerable measure by this reflection, the Subscriber now issues Proposals for the erection of a permanent and elegant BATHING HOUSE. It depends upon the public whether his plans are carried into execution or not. Should a sufficient number of Subscribers be obtained, the work will be completed by the latter end of May: but it is not necessary that two hundred be obtained by the middle of April.
“The following is a brief sketch of the plan and situation: The Building will be erected at the East end of Laurens street, a low water mark: the Foundation to be made of Palmetto Logs, 46 feet square, containing 14 private Baths, with a Bath in the centre of 20 feet diameter: the bottom of the baths to be floored: over the Dressing Room will be a Platform and Railing, over which there will be a Roof. There will be a Bridge leading form Laurens street to the Bathing House.
“Those Gentlemen who feel disposed to encourage the undertaking are requested to subscribe immediately.”


  • Silliman, Martha Trumbull, 1 September 1821, describing Monte Video, property of Daniel Wadsworth, Avon, Conn. (quoted in Saunders and Raye 1981: 20)
“The place is a great deal handsomer than I expected. The buildings are all Gothic. First there is Uncles beautiful house; 2d the tower, 3d the cottage & the barns 4th the boat house & 5th the bathing house 6th a grape house 7th an ice house & 8th the bee house & a Gothic gate.”


  • Silliman, Benjamin, 1824, describing a fountain in New Lebanon, N.Y. (pp. 46–47)
“This is a very remarkable fountain. Unlike most mineral waters, it issues from a high hill; the water boils up in a space of ten feet wide, by three and a half deep . . . the water discharged amounts to eighteen barrels in a minute, and not only supplies the baths very copiously, simply by running down hill to them.”


  • Peale, Charles Willson, c. 1825, describing New York, N.Y. (Miller, Hart, and Ward, eds., 2000: 5:247–48)
“Peale went to a bathing house on the north river, this building has a private as well as public bathing places, for men or women. The cost of public bathing is 12 1/2 Cts. and 25 Cents for private bathing. . . .
“The public Bath is extended wings on each side about 40 feet into the river on which there are a range of boxes to dress and undress, these have stairs with ropes to decend into the water on the 3 sides and at the end next the river is a sunken vessel of an oblong square, and the debth of the water therein is about 4 feet, for the accomdation of those who cannot swim. In the private baths they have the same kind of vessels which rise and fall with the tide. You are furnished with a towel and an oil cap for the head. They have warm baths for those who want them. The[re] is another bathing house on the same river, which at present is not in order except for the accomodation of women.
“If there were also Bathing houses on the east river, and it was the custom generally for the Inhabitants to make frequent use, especially during the hot seasons, it would contribute much to ward off those dreadful fevers which too oftain afflict large Cities.”


  • du Pont, Sophie Madeleine, 21 July 1837, describing Warm Springs (Berkeley Springs), Va. (later W.Va.) (quoted in Low and Hinsley 1987: 173, 179)
“Warm Springs. . . . The most abundant of these gushes from the earth in the middle of a large octagonal basin of mason work covered with a wooden building having an opening at the top, & four neat & comfortable rooms on as many sides for the accommodation of bathing. This bath is thirty eight feet in diameter; & the temperature of water 96 degrees—It is one of the most curious & beautiful objects I have seen, the water is pure & translucent to an almost dazzling degree, & rises in ceaseless flow, accompanied by showers of bright gleaming air bubbles. . . .
“There are several other springs of the same kind in the meadow—round one a platform is built with benches, under shady trees, for those who drink the water, which notwithstanding its odour of half spoiled eggs & its warmth, is not very nauseous to the taste—Another bath house contains four small baths, into one of which a spout is arranged for the benefit of those who are recommended to take douches. I have tried this at Dr Horner’s request & think it of service to me, as well as the bathing.” [Fig. 6]


  • Alcott, William A., August 1838, “Embellishment and Improvement of Towns and Villages” (American Annals of Education 8: 343)
“In all our larger cities and towns there should be public baths, and custom should require their daily use by those who have not the means of private ones. And if we do not recommend public bathing houses to every town and village of New England, of every size, it is because we do humbly hope our citizens will provide themselves with conveniences of the kind at their own expense, when they can be made to feel their importance.”


  • Hovey, C. M., October 1850, “Notes on Gardens and Nurseries,” describing a residence in Cambridge, Mass. (Magazine of Horticulture 16: 462)
“The sailing pond, with the exception of the walks around the border, and the planting of a few trees on the island in the centre, have been completed since last year, and a fine boat-house, to combine a bathing-house, &c., was now just being finished.”


  • Watson, John Fanning, 1857, describing Bathsheba’s Bath and Bower, Philadelphia, Pa. (1:411)
“I had long heard traditional facts concerning the rural beauty and charming scenes of Bathsheba’s bath and bower, as told among the earliest recollections of the aged. They had heard their parents talk of going out over the Second street bridge into the country about the Society hill, and there making their tea—regale at the above—named spring.”

Citations

Images

Notes

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History of Early American Landscape Design contributors, "Bath/Bathhouse," History of Early American Landscape Design, , https://heald.nga.gov/mediawiki/index.php?title=Bath/Bathhouse&oldid=16365 (accessed March 29, 2024).

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