Bath County is a county in Virginia, United States, about 40 miles west of Staunton in the
Allegheny Highlands. It had a population of 4,209 at the 2020 census, an estimated 4,076 by 2025,
and covers 529 square miles (1,370 km2) of land centred near 38°04′N 79°44′W.
Warm Springs is the county seat; its postal code is 24484. Bath has no incorporated towns or
cities — every named place is either a census-designated place or an unincorporated
community, and the county runs on Eastern Time.
Towns & Villages in Bath County
Bath County has 36 named places on record: 3 census-designated places (Hot Springs, Millboro
and Warm Springs) and 33 unincorporated communities with no local government of their own. CDP
stands for census designated place; Unincorp. covers crossroads and rural communities with no
formal boundary or elected officials.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hot Springs | CDP | 524 | 24445 |
| Millboro | CDP | 236 | 24460 |
| Warm Springs | CDP · seat | 121 | 24484 |
| Williamsville | Unincorp. | — | 24487 |
| Bacova | Unincorp. | — | 24412 |
| Armstrong | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Ashwood | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Bacova Junction | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Bath Alum | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Bolar | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Burnsville | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Callison | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Carloover | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Chimney Run | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Copeland | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Crane | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Crowdertown | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Fort Lewis | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Green Valley | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Greenwood | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Healing Springs | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Hotchkiss | Unincorp. | — | — |
| McClung | Unincorp. | — | — |
| McCowan Spring | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Midway | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Millboro Springs | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Mitchelltown | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Mooretown | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Mountain Grove | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Perkins Point | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Shiloh | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Sunrise | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Switch Back | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Thomastown | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Tinkertown | Unincorp. | — | — |
| West Warm Springs | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Yost | Unincorp. | — | — |
Two pairs of names on this list are easy to confuse. Bacova and Bacova Junction are separate
places a short distance apart on the Hot Springs road, not one place under two spellings. Warm
Springs and West Warm Springs are likewise distinct communities either side of the Jackson River,
sharing a name but not a boundary.
ZIP Codes
- 24445 — Hot Springs
- 24460 — Millboro (also serves Millboro Springs)
- 24484 — Warm Springs (also serves West Warm Springs and the courthouse area)
- 24487 — Williamsville
- 24412 — Bacova, a post office box — only ZIP code, with no home delivery route
The rest of the county’s unincorporated communities — Armstrong, Bolar, Burnsville,
Mountain Grove and the others — have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under
the nearest of the five codes above.
Geography
Bath County sits in Virginia’s Allegheny Highlands, a run of parallel forested ridges and
narrow valleys along the West Virginia line. Forest covers 89 percent of the county, more than
half of it inside the George Washington National Forest, and Douthat State Park holds another 6
percent. Of the county’s 535 square miles, 529 are land and 5 are water, about 1 percent
— the county has no large natural lake of its own, though Lake Moomaw, built for flood
control and recreation on the Jackson River, straddles the Bath–Alleghany county line.
Highland County borders Bath to the north, Augusta County to the northeast, Rockbridge County
to the east, and Alleghany County to the south. West Virginia’s Greenbrier County lies to
the southwest and Pocahontas County, West Virginia, to the west. Highland County, Augusta County, Rockbridge County and Greenbrier County all have posts on
this site; Alleghany County, Virginia and Pocahontas County, West Virginia do not yet.
Demographics
Bath County had a population of 4,209 at the 2020 census, Virginia’s second-least
populous county, and the latest estimate puts it near 4,076 residents, a slight decline. Hot
Springs and Millboro are the two largest communities, with 524 and 236 residents respectively.
Median household income runs $56,184 (2024, Data USA), well below Virginia’s statewide
figure of $89,931 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to about 8 people per square mile of
land, among the lowest of any Virginia county.
Economy & Local Life
Accommodation and food service is the county’s largest employment sector at 367 workers,
followed by health care and social assistance at 209 and construction at 169. The Omni Homestead
Resort in Hot Springs, an inn on the site since 1766 and rebuilt into its present form between
1888 and 1892, is the county’s dominant employer; it completed a renovation of more than
$150 million between 2021 and 2023. The Bath County Pumped Storage Station, in the county’s
north, was the world’s largest pumped-storage hydroelectric plant from its 1985 completion
until a Chinese facility surpassed it in 2021; it has a maximum generating capacity of 3,003
megawatts and is jointly owned by Dominion Energy, LS Power and FirstEnergy.
History
Virginia’s General Assembly formed Bath County on 14 December 1790, out of parts of
Augusta, Botetourt and Greenbrier counties. It was named for the English spa city of Bath, in
reference to the county’s own mineral hot springs. Tourism has driven the local economy
since the county’s founding, built around those same springs at Hot Springs, Warm Springs
and Healing Springs.
The county’s hot-springs resorts drew visitors from far beyond Virginia well before the
Civil War. From December 1941 to June 1942, the Homestead in Hot Springs served as a State
Department internment site holding 785 Japanese diplomats and their families after the United
States entered World War II; in 1943 it hosted a United Nations conference that laid the
groundwork for the Food and Agriculture Organization.
Getting There
No interstate highway crosses Bath County. US Route 220 runs north–south through the
county, and Virginia Routes 39 and 42 connect Warm Springs to Lexington and Millboro.
- Staunton — about 40 miles east
- Covington — about 25 miles south
- Lexington — about 35 miles southeast
- Roanoke — about 65 miles south
Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport, near Weyers Cave outside Staunton, is the nearest
commercial airport. Amtrak’s Cardinal train, running between New York and Chicago, stops at
Staunton station, the closest Amtrak service to the county.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Bath County located?
It sits in Virginia’s Allegheny Highlands on the West Virginia line, about 40 miles west of
Staunton, bordered by Highland, Augusta, Rockbridge and Alleghany counties in Virginia and
Greenbrier and Pocahontas counties in West Virginia.
What is the population of Bath County?
4,209 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 4,076 — Virginia’s second-least
populous county.
How big is Bath County?
535 square miles (1,390 km2) in total, of which 529 square miles are land.
What is the county seat of Bath County?
Warm Springs is the county seat.
How many towns are in Bath County?
None are incorporated. The county has three census-designated places — Hot Springs,
Millboro and Warm Springs — plus 33 smaller unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes does Bath County use?
24445 for Hot Springs, 24460 for Millboro, 24484 for Warm Springs, 24487 for Williamsville and
24412 for Bacova.
What is Bath County known for?
The Omni Homestead Resort, a hot-springs retreat operating in some form since 1766, and the Bath
County Pumped Storage Station, the world’s largest pumped-storage hydroelectric plant from
1985 until 2021.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Virginia.