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| French Lick Springs Hotel has been going strong for 175 years, including the early-1900s heyday when Thomas D. Taggart (at left in the photo) owned the hotel. |
French Lick Springs Hotel is turning 175 years old in 2020, and we don't mind getting old. That just means our rich history is gaining a few more layers.
We're celebrating with special display cases each month (in the corridor connecting the hotel lobby and retail shops) highlighting different facets of the hotel's history, and we're partying it up in May with a special gala commemorating 175 years. More to come on that soon. For now, we're opening up the photo album to see the changing face of the hotel over the years.
In an earlier era, the hotel's surroundings were much different than the ones you see today. The hotel had a barn nearby with a track to run horses. A baseball field accommodated local semipro teams, and even hosted spring training workouts for MLB teams including the Chicago Cubs.
In the bottom left of the photo is a dairy barn, which supplied fresh milk and dairy products to the hotel. The hotel really was a self-contained little community, with its own dairy, gardens and chicken houses.
A side view of the hotel, circa 1906, with the Proserpine Spring in the foreground. Another wing of the hotel — where the retail shops and Grand Colonnade Restaurant are now located — was eventually built in this area.
There were three original mineral springs at the hotel: Proserpine, Pluto and Bowles, named for Dr. William Bowles, the local physician who established the first French Lick hotel in 1845 and attracted guests by touting the mineral waters as having therapeutic qualities. This is the wooden Bowles Spring, circa 1880. (Note the benches inside the gazebo where guests could sit after drinking the waters.)
Our iconic Pluto Spring has undergone some serious facelifts over the years. Above is the original wooden Pluto Spring House, which existed from the mid to late 1800s.
Below is the second iteration with a more intricate design and a Pluto figure atop the spring, keeping watch with a trident and shield. This new design enabled guests access to the spring from the ground level as they descended stairs down down to the spring basin to drink the mineral water. This spring house structure was eventually relocated up the hill to provide a shady spot for guests as they walked the grounds. (And by the way, the building in the background housed a bowling alley and billiards hall on the first level — and it's rumored that guests went to the second level of the building to partake in illegal gambling.)
Pluto Spring House today, in the hotel gardens.
Hotel guests could have Pluto Water served right at the counter, as Pluto Water was pumped directly from the spring and served hot or cold. This area, known as the Hot Pluto Bar, is located where
1875: The Steakhouse now stands today.
Pluto Water was a national phenomenon, too. It was bottled in plants adjacent to the hotel, which grew in step with the mineral water's sales. By 1919, more than 450 train carloads of Pluto Water were shipped annually, and during that year Pluto Water exceeded $1.2 million in national sales.
There was also a Fresh Water Spring at the hotel, also known as the Lithia Spring. Water from this spring didn't contain the harsh sulfur flavor of the mineral water — but it did contain lithium, which prompted the FDA to ban sales of Pluto Water decades later. There were only trace amounts of lithium, so you would've had to chug a bunch of this stuff to feel the magical effects.
As with everything a century ago, you had to look dressy when taking the mineral waters.
The rail trolley ran between French Lick and West Baden from 1903-1919, and it was a nickel per ride. Today at the resort, rides are free on the rail trolley that uses a restored car similar to this original.
Above and below are the housekeeping staff (circa 1910) and the kitchen staff (circa 1917) at French Lick Springs Hotel. See the fifth man from the right in the photo of the kitchen staff? That's Louis Perrin, the chef credited for creating tomato juice one morning in 1917 when he ran out of oranges for breakfast and squeezed tomatoes instead.
Back in the day, men and women had separate spas on separate floors. Both spas had a sauna, whirlpool, massages and mineral baths, but only the men's spa had a pool (which was located near where the bowling alley is today at the hotel).
French Lick Springs Hotel was a favorite playground for the rich and famous — including actress Lana Turner, who was Hollywood royalty in the 1940s. (
Click here to hear from the girl in this photo who's getting an autograph from Turner on the front steps of the hotel.)
The formal dining room was huge — big enough for part of the room to be sectioned off for special musical performances.
The domed indoor pool and adjacent outdoor pool in the back of the hotel were replaced by gardens during the hotel's mid-2000s renovation.
And no matter how many years pass, relaxing on the hotel's veranda or in the gardens is a tradition that never goes out of style.
In an earlier era, the hotel's surroundings were much different than the ones you see today. The hotel had a barn nearby with a track to run horses. A baseball field accommodated local semipro teams, and even hosted spring training workouts for MLB teams including the Chicago Cubs.
