Burning Springs is an unincorporated community in Wirt County, West Virginia, United States.

John V. Rathbone bought 100 acres in 1842 and a decade later drilled a new well, only to discover it produced more oil than salt.

[4] As the Civil War had begun, Col. Cass Rathbone recruited a militia company which became the 11th West Virginia Infantry, with his brother in law Daniel E. Frost as Lt. Col.

On May 9, 1863 during the Jones-Imboden Raid partially to prevent West Virginia's statehood, Confederate raiders set every oil well afire, as well as 120,000 gallons ready for shipping, destroying the town and causing the river (and its forested banks) to burn for miles.

[4] The Burning Springs Complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, although not many original buildings remain (fire being a constant danger for the wood structures).