Major Peter Higgins laid out the town in 1808, with a common area surrounded by lots; later archeological research found relics of prior Native American use of the site.

The Orkney Springs Hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, and its most current restoration finished in 1987.

The Orkney Springs Hotel was owned privately until 1979 when it was purchased by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and became part of their retreat center Shrine Mont.

[4] The Episcopal Church had offered services in the town since the 19th century, and it had been a favorite retreat of Bishop Robert Atkinson Gibson from 1876 until his death in 1919.

This open-air outdoor worship space, built of native stone, was consecrated on August 6, 1925, by Bishop William Cabell Brown.