The former Borland Springs Hotel was built by John Wilbur (J.W.) Grimm in 1908. Grimm, who was born in Pennsylvania on September 22, 1866, built the hotel atop a 240 acre property straddling Wood and Pleasants Counties. When opened, the inn boasted 65 guest rooms, a dining room seating 90, and ample recreational opportunities. However, it was for the healing benefits of the mineral springs that led to its popularity, and at weekly rates of $12-14, including meals, it was affordable for the majority of the population. In addition to services as a resort, Borland Springs also sold its healing spring water through mail order and local stores.

Business did well until August 16, 1918. That year, Grimm's oldest son, Frank Chandis Grimm, shot and killed 20 year old John Maidens in the spring house. Allegedly the murder was over a love triangle involving a Miss Pearson. It is said that in the spring house, which often hosted dances and other social events, the blood stain of Mr. Maidens remained for years.

Shortly after the murder, guests began to report strange noises and other odd happenings around the hotel. Business also took a turn for the worse, and finally, Grimm sold the hotel in 1932 to C.T. Leavitt, a local from Parkersburg. Leavitt did extensive restorations on the declining hotel, including redoing the blood-stained spring house. He reopened the resort in 1934, and operated it until 1938. Hard times required the hotel to temporarily shut down, reopening in 1940-1941, when it was shut down permanently.

By the early 1950s, the former hotel served as a massive chicken coop before burning to the ground in 1967. Today, the property sits outside of the Mountwood Park campgrounds, and is still rumored to be haunted. Did the spirit of John Maidens "curse" the once prosperous hotel, now doomed to walk the property for an eternity, or does the spirit of former owner, J.W. Grimm (who died in 1955 at nearby Camden Clark Hospital) show up to express his displeasure at the fate of his former resort?