"I am very glad Colo Lewis purchased a lott or two for me at the Warm Springs, as it was always my intention to become a proprietor there if a town should be laid off at that place ... ," Washington wrote in a letter to Samuel Washington on Oct. 27, 1777.
A plaque now marks the site of those lots off Mercer Street. Washington in 1784 made a deal with James Rumsey to build a house and outbuildings on the lots, but Rumsey never completed the task, Mozier said.
"We could have had the first summer White House if it weren't for Rumsey," she said.
Trail followers should be aware that Washington did not travel along existing roads - although W.Va. 9 is the modern version of the old Warm Springs Road - and that not all of the trail's attractions boast Colonial-era historical significance, said John Douglas of Berkeley Springs, author of "George Washington & Us." The book relies heavily upon Washington's own writings to explore the first president's connection to Morgan County and the surrounding area.
