Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation

The springs had been drawing people to this corner of Meriwether County long before Roosevelt arrived — tradition holds that Muscogee Creek people brought ailing warriors here to heal. Roosevelt first came in October 1924, paralyzed from the waist down, and felt enough improvement after a few days in the 88°F water that in 1926 he bought the resort property and roughly 1,200 acres. He incorporated the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation in 1927, turning what had been a declining Victorian resort into what became the first hospital devoted solely to treating polio. It still operates as a rehabilitation center today.