French Lick is located in southern Indiana, a hundred miles or so south of Indianapolis. It is a small town best known as the home of former basketball star Larry Bird.
In the early 1900’s French Lick, and the neighboring town of West Baden, were known for their hot springs. A dozen hotels were built, touting the medicinal benefits of their sulfur hot baths to the rich and famous. The late Depression wiped out the majority of the hotels and most closed or have sat in major disrepair ever since.
A few years back, I read of the grandest hotel of them all, the West Baden Springs Hotel.
It originally opened in 1855 and was named the “Mile Lick Inn.” Owner Dr. John Lane changed the name of the hotel, and the town, to West Baden Springs after the famous mineral springs in Wiesbaden, Germany.
Lee Sinclair changed the hotel into a sophisticated resort when he purchased the site in 1888. The hotel included an opera house, golf course and a roofed double-decker pony and bicycle track.
The hotel burned to the ground in 1901. However, all guests were unharmed. Sinclair used this opportunity to transform the hotel into a world class resort. He spent $414,000 and in 200 days, built a hotel that rivaled the grandest spas of Europe.
The hotel was nicknamed the “Eighth Wonder of the World” and was a haven for celebrities and political figures.
It included 708 guest rooms, each with private baths, running water and steam heat. The most dramatic feature was a free-standing dome, 135 feet high and 208 feet diameter, complete with 10,000 panes of glass. The free-standing dome was the world’s largest until the Houston Astrodome was built in 1965.
Over the years the hotel had been stripped of most of its original grandeur and lay in shambles. During the 1990’s the hotel was visited by about 100 visitors per day, willing to pay $5 and sign a waiver of liability to tour what was left of the hotel. In an article from the Wall Street Journal, a visitor driving 150 miles to visit, related it to “being able to go down and see the wreckage of the Titanic.”
A while back, I stumbled on a magazine with an article about the West Baden Springs Hotel. The hotel was close to being razed when it was purchased in 1996 by the Historic Landmark Foundation of Indiana. Local philanthropists Bill and Gayle Cook purchased the hotel and neighboring French Lick Springs Hotel and spent $382 million restoring the two hotels to their original splendor.
A few years ago, Jackie and I decided to take the five-hour drive down to French Lick to see the hotel. We were able to get a room for about $200. I’m sure it’s a little more now.
We entered the rural and somewhat impoverished French Lick area wondering if this was going to be worth the drive. West Baden was composed of a handful of small buildings that had seen better days. Pulling into French Lick, we saw the sign for the hotel and entered the drive through a large cement archway. The several hundred yard drive back to the hotel through the grounds is on an old brick street lined with trees and bushes. The massive building with its bright red roof looked like pictures I have seen of the mountain resorts of Europe.
Entering the West Baden Springs Hotel and looking up at the ceiling of the dome is almost worth the drive itself. In the center of the ceiling is a large multi colored circular fixture that slowly changes colors. The various color combinations lighting this huge open area are mesmerizing. We stood and watched as groups of folks would enter the dome and then just stand and stare at the ceiling.
All of the five floors of guest rooms surround the open atrium, with half facing into it and the other half facing the grounds. Our room was fabulous and other than the television, it would be easy to imagine what this must have been like almost 100 years ago. All of the bathroom fixtures were replicas of 1920’s style luxury.
We had a great breakfast in one of the many restaurants at the hotel and had a swim in the pool. The pool is lined with large wicker chase lounges and stacks of large, warm fluffy towels. We both fell asleep on the chairs within about five minutes of leaving the pool.
We drove over to downtown French Lick and French Lick Resort, which was restored at the same time. It is not as dramatic as the West Baden but has a wonderful 1920’s feel with hundreds of rooms and is connected to a casino. A hallway off the lobby has a wall of photographs of practically every major celebrity of the past 85 years that has entertained and stayed there.
Our stay at the West Baden Springs Hotel was a very enjoyable and unique experience. Whether you are a history buff or are just looking for quiet weekend getaway, I would highly recommend visiting it someday.
