Resort has played host to presidents

Physically and economically, The Homestead dominates the Bath County landscape.

Sitting on 3,000 acres in the Allegheny Mountains, the luxury resort, founded in 1766, has hosted presidents from Thomas Jefferson to Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.

The 27th president, William Howard Taft, was known to eat copious portions of food there, while his successor, Woodrow Wilson, honeymooned at the resort in the winter of 1915.

It has also played host to numerous events, such as the Republican Party of Virginia Advance meeting and the Virginia Farm Bureau convention late last year, as well as high school proms.

The upscale resort, which employs more than 1,000 people – Bath County’s largest employer – has 72,000 square feet of meeting space and a 13,500-square-foot grand ballroom, as well as an additional 24,000 square feet of outdoor function space. It can host events for up to 1,000 people and has 483 guest rooms.

Activities at the resort range from horseback riding to golf to European-style spas, skiing and more.

And Saturday was like most other nights at the Hot Springs resort – people dining and enjoying its comforts – until two people were shot and killed.

Beacher Ferrel Hackney, a resort employee suspected in the Saturday evening murder of two of his supervisors, Ronnie Stinnett and Dwight Kerr, is still on the loose, with authorities focusing their search on a steeply wooded area across from the resort.

The search forced the closure of schools in Bath and Allegheny counties as a precaution.

Charles Curry, president of the Augusta County Farm Bureau, has stayed at The Homestead with his wife on several occasions for conventions and says he was surprised to hear about the shootings.

“You don’t hear about this type of thing happening there,” Curry said.

Curry said his wife has been on a behind-the-scenes tour of the resort and compared it to a little city.

“Every time I’ve gone there, it’s been a real treat,” Curry said. “It’s real special.”

Lynn Mitchell, who has attended Republican Party GOP Advance meetings at The Homestead, including the one in December, says the resort is “one of the most relaxing places to go to.”

Mitchell said that four of the last five Advance meetings have been held there, and recalls seeing the same bell hops at the entrance and the same employees waiting on her.

“It’s sad to think that the tranquility has been broken by something like this,” Mitchell said.