Like finding a $20 bill in your pants from last winter, don't unexpected discoveries feel so good?
We made one of those thrilling finds recently by acquiring some never-before-seen photos from the old days of French Lick and West Baden Springs Hotels. These came from a private collection, and they shine a little more light on some of the incredible history that lives here at French Lick Resort.
This photo shows guests filling up with a drink of Pluto Water from West Baden's Sprudel Spring Lobby. Mineral water from the springs was piped directly into this building, and guests could take their pick from the Hygeia, Sprudel and Apollo springs. Some believed the different springs contained their own healing properties unique from the others. In reality, all the water was pretty much the same — though salts were added to the Sprudel spring water to make its effects more powerful.
This picture is likely from the mid-1920s, and it's probably summertime, judging from the white suit and white shoes these men were wearing. The door at the far left of the photo opened to the foot bridge that connected this massive building to the rest of the hotel grounds.
Photos from West Baden Springs Hotel's stint as an Army hospital are rare, so this photo is an awesome find. During a 7-month span between 1917 and 1918, the hotel closed to guests and assumed a new identity: U.S. General Hospital Number 35, where wounded soldiers from World War I were sent.
From the handwritten caption that came on the frame of this photo:
"This picture is for Mom and Dad and it tells how Yanks fare in West Baden Hospital. Lieutenant Colonel R.W. Bliss is in charge of the West Baden Hospital and also is spending an additional thousands (of dollars) going over the rooms, painting them white and tearing out partitions to accommodate 1,500 soldiers expected."Above and below are the north veranda and side steps of French Lick Springs Hotel, circa 1913. In our archive we have plenty of full-body shots of the entire expanse of the hotel, but these are unique snapshots of some new angles. Aren't they the picture of serenity?
Back then, the hotel ended at this north veranda. It eventually expanded with a new hotel wing (the one that leads to the Event Center today) in the area to the right of this photo where the gazebo is in the background.
Looking the other direction, you get a view of the side steps at the hotel entrance. The large building in the background is the Pluto Corporation, which produced its Pluto mineral water for nationwide distribution. Zoom in or squint real well and you can see another building, a local rooming house known as the Arlington Hotel, on the far right under the hotel stair awning.
Recognize this spot at West Baden Springs Hotel? It's near the entrance to the old dining room (today Sinclair's Restaurant). It shows how the nighttime view was much different back in the 1920s. The entrance to the atrium on the left side of the photo looks very dark, minus the Bacchus fixtures that provided a little light. In the corridor on the right, the sconce lighting offers a modest glow during evening hours. At the atrium entrance along the wall, you can also see one of the covers from the radiators that warmed the hotel with steam heat.
A group of waiters from French Lick Springs Hotel, April 1911. The area of the hotel behind them housed the spa near the south end of the hotel (close to where the spa and Pluto's Pizzeria are today). In front of them, you can see the railroad tracks where railcars delivered coal to the power plant that once stood adjacent to the hotel.
The French Lick Springs Hotel gardens, circa 1913. Wouldn't it have been a phenomenal view from those suite balconies on the upper stories?
A classic car on the West Baden Springs Hotel driveway, with the Hygeia Spring in the background. We believe this might be a 1927 Ford Model T Fordor Saloon. (Ford paired "Ford" with "or" for their four-door cars; their two-door cars were "Tudors.")
This snapshot probably comes from the era when a private college, Northwood Institute, inhabited West Baden Springs Hotel for 16 years beginning in 1967. A 200-foot diameter atrium was more than enough room to host a banquet for the school.
In the middle of the atrium, you can see a pedestal that's holding a water fountain for this occasion. Prior to this Northwood era, the hotel was used as a Jesuit seminary, and this pedestal featured a statue of Christ. Architectural issues caused the atrium floor to rise and buckle, so the pedestal was likely removed not long after this.
Also from the Northwood era: a group of students relaxing on the stairs outside the hotel. West Baden was an all-in-one experience for Northwood students, whose dorms were on the hotel's upper floors with the classrooms on the lower level.
Conventions were big business at West Baden — and this one from September 18-20, 1929 was probably one of the last ones. Just weeks after this came the infamous stock market crash and ensuing Great Depression. The hotel closed its doors in 1932 and didn't welcome another guest for another 75 years, when incredible renovations brought it back to life in 2007.
Stay tuned, because we've got a lot more new (old) historic photos where these came from. We'll share more with you on our blog in the coming weeks and months!
