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| The original spring house structure dates back to the mid to late 1800s. |
You’ve seen it before if you’ve visited to French Lick
Resort. Even if you didn’t realize it.
It’s our trademarked logo. It’s on every single brochure and
poster around the resort, on clothing and souvenirs in the retail shops, on signage
and associate uniforms. A central figure in the resort’s history. It’s safe to
say the Pluto Spring House is pretty iconic for French Lick Springs Hotel and
French Lick Resort.
But did you know the spring house structure that can be seen
in the gardens today is not the original? It’s actually the third structure to
stand over that historic spring.
The original spring house was an elevated wooden structure
that existed during the mid-to-late 1800s when William Bowles owned French Lick
Springs Hotel. This spring house had stairs on one side leading to an upper
level platform where guests could sit above the spring to relax before or after
drinking the water. The spring itself was accessible from ground level beneath
the wooden second floor. The structure featured an octagonal roof and lattice
work around the bottom of the roof and below the upper level.
In 1901 Tom Taggart, former mayor of Indianapolis, bought
the hotel and began making various improvements and expansions around the
property, which included building a new spring house for the mineral spring
that produced the world-famous Pluto Water. New ownership led to a new design.
This second structure was more open and somewhat fancier in appearance.
Built at ground level with a stone foundation, guests
actually descended stairs down to the spring basin. The shape remained
octagonal with round columns supporting the two-tiered roof. Below the roof
were intricate, rectangular glass panels that encircled the interior of the
spring house structure. The glass panel above the descending stairs stated the
spring’s name to visitors. Perched atop the roof, as if keeping a watch over
the spring, sat a Pluto figure holding a trident and a shield with the word “Pluto”
on it.
This sophisticated structure stood over the spring until
around 1915, when for an unknown reason, the spring house was removed and
relocated on the hillside closer to where the French Lick Villas stand today,
right behind the Pluto spring. This structure can often be seen in the
background of photos taken of the Pluto spring during this era. The Pluto glass
panel was replaced and the structure had a second life as a garden gazebo for
guests to enjoy. Once removed, the spring house seen today was erected.
This third and current structure followed the same blueprint
as its predecessor. Visitors continued to descend stairs to reach the spring
basin, the shape remained octagonal and the roof stayed two-tiered. The
exterior columns and basin are now comprised of a sturdier glazed white brick.
This permanent structure built in the mid-1910s continues to stand today, with
only a few cosmetic changes.
Below the first roof level, glass windows had been installed
to let natural light inside the structure. Over time these glass windows were
painted over, but they still exist today. The original tiled roof has been
replaced with modern red shingles. The sign above the descending stairs once
read just “Pluto” and now reads “World Famous Pluto Spring.” The Pluto figure
that hovered above the second spring house structure was reinstalled atop this
new brick structure. Over the decades, the Pluto figure was lost to time, and
it is unknown when it stopped keeping watch over the spring.
The devilish-looking Pluto was the symbol of Pluto Water
when national sales skyrocketed around 1915. But a spring house structure has
stood over that historic spring long before the world knew about the cure-all,
miracle water known as Pluto Water.
You could say this spring house is just as iconic as the
mineral water it has safeguarded for more than 100 years.