The Greenbrier Historical Society (GHS), in partnership with the Greenbrier County Commission, is excited to announce the receipt of a grant from the National Park Service for the restoration and preservation of the Lewis Spring, Springhouse, and portions of the surrounding General Andrew Lewis Park.
GHS President Al Emch said, “Restoring the Lewis Spring and Park has been a dream of mine since moving to Lewisburg. I am especially pleased that this grant acknowledges the importance of General Lewis and the spring to the founding of our nation. I also appreciate the partnership with the Greenbrier County Commission as we work together to make this area an even greater tourist attraction.” Greenbrier County Commission President Lowell Rose added, “The Lewis Spring is a treasure and we are very grateful to the National Park Service for helping us to be good stewards of its historic legacy to our nation.”
The spring was recorded as “discovered” by Andrew Lewis and his father, John, in 1751. However, its location along a major Native American thoroughfare, the historic Seneca Trail, suggests that local Indigenous tribes already knew of its existence. The spring is extremely significant to the founding and development of the United States due to its strategic location on the western frontier of the colony of Virginia. It played a pivotal role leading up to the Revolutionary War by serving as the location for the gathering of the Southern Militia under Col. Andrew Lewis at Camp Union before his march to Point Pleasant in 1774. Lord Dunmore’s War provided critical training for many future officers, soldiers, and leaders of the Revolution and our nation. The colonial victory at Point Pleasant compelled the Shawnee to sign the Treaty of Camp Charlotte, which allowed unimpeded Euro-American settlement of the Greenbrier, New-Kanawha, Monongalia, and Upper Ohio Valleys. The Treaty created a boundary between the Indigenous lands of the Ohio Country to the west, and the British colonies to the east — a major resetting of the Appalachian boundary that was set by the Treaty of Paris that ended the French and Indian War and later defined by the Proclamation Line of 1763.
The General Andrew Lewis Spring Preservation Project is being supported in part by a Semiquincentennial grant from the Historic Preservation Fund administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. The source of the funding is Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas lease revenue, not tax dollars.
If anyone has questions or concerns, they may be addressed to the Greenbrier Historical Society at 814 Washington Street, West, Lewisburg, WV 24910.
— Margaret Hambrick, GHS Board of Directors Secretary
