Dr. Thomas Goode (born October 31, 1787 in Mecklenburg County, Virginia - died April 2, 1858 in Bath County, Virginia) was a Virginian physician who purchased the warm springs resort in Virginia and helped establish European style hydrotherapies there.
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Biography
Thomas Goode was born in 1787 to Colonel Samuel Goode who was a member of the U.S. Congress from 1799-1801. He was the father of at least seven daughters and two sons. An enthusiastic politician, he was buried near the Hot Springs Hotel.
Dr. Goode was acknowledged as "the proprietor during the heyday of the 'Springs Tour'." He was a medical doctor trained in Philadelphia and Edinburgh. He toured the spas of Europe and applied that knowledge to the services he offered at the hot springs, including something he called a Spout Bath, a bath with "three to four inch columns of water pockets falling from a height of six feet" that was directed to massage the desired area of the body."
Legacy and death
In 1832, Dr. Thomas Goode purchased the "Homestead" resort and spa from the family of Thomas Bullitt. Today, it is known as The Omni Homestead Resort, "He [Dr. Goode] was a prominent physician and is responsible for the European style of many different spa therapies."
Dr. Goode authored several pieces of work on the healing powers of springs and waters.
Dr. Goode died on April 2, 1858 in Bath County, Virginia. His grave is next to his wife, Mary A, Knox Goode, at the Presbyterian church in Hot Springs, Virginia. An inscription reads: "An Eminent Physician; Ever Strenuous and True; A Wise and Good Man; Without Fear and Without Reproach."