A few weeks ago, we shared some historic resort photos that are new to our collection. If you missed it, check out the first installment here. And today, we've got a whole new batch of snapshots to share from the early days of French Lick and West Baden Springs Hotels.
The "Water Wagon" was always a popular photo op — although we're not 100% sure if it had a practical use or was merely ornamental. Our resort historian, Jeff Lane, doubts that the Water Wagon contained the popular mineral water guests used to drink at the hotel. He thinks it may have contained fresh water to wet down the sawdust roads and paths of the era. He's never seen a photo with horses attached to the Water Wagon, so maybe it was an iconic photo prop. Either way, a Water Wagon photo called for dressing to the nines, as these gentlemen are with their full suits, pocketwatch chains, caps and walking sticks.
Guests at the Lithia Spring in April 1907. This was adjacent to French Lick Springs Hotel, which is faintly visible in the background. This was also known as the Fresh Water Spring. It still contained some sulfur, but Lithia Spring water wasn't quite as potent as the fully leaded Pluto Water that was touted for containing 22 different minerals.
The men's bath at French Lick Springs Hotel, 1910. Such a cool old photo. You could receive a number of different baths here — the iconic Pluto mineral bath, Turkish bath, electric bath, steam bath. Men and women had their own separate bath houses. The women's bath is where the Spa at French Lick is located today. The men's bath was on the floor directly below. Today, the bowling alley and Pluto's pizzeria are located here, and while the men's bath is long gone, this signature tile floor has survived to the present day.
Why are we showing you a bunch of cows? Well, would you believe French Lick Springs Hotel once had a dairy barn right on property? It was located just up the hill from the hotel (near where the French Lick Villas are today), and you could always guarantee the milk you were drinking was fresh.
We showed you this view of the old French Lick Springs Hotel flower garden in the last blog. Notice anything different about this wider view? Check out the part of the building visible in the lower left. This was the Hot Pluto Buffet where guests were served mineral water (today, it's where 1875: The Steakhouse is). Look closely, and there's a great view of the two imposing Pluto statues "guarding" the building from the roof.
Rocking on the front veranda of French Lick Springs Hotel — it's a tradition that never goes out of style.
The Pluto Water Bottling House, 1918. This factory was built directly across the road from French Lick Springs Hotel as national sales of the mineral water boomed. This was the view from one of the upper floors of the hotel. In the foreground, you might recognize the hotel's circle driveway.
This is the same vantage point in 1956, as tennis courts had been added to the front lawn. The courts were replaced by a new pool the following year, as the photo below shows the final stages of pool construction in 1957.
Recognize this building? It's still here, but looks slightly different. This is the old golf shop, which now houses the Activities Center on the front lawn of French Lick Springs Hotel. The land has been raised since this photo was taken in 1907, so now it appears as a single-story structure rather than the multi-level building you see here.
A guest room at French Lick Springs Hotel, circa 1910s-20s. Notice the radiators that once warmed the building with steam heat. A spittoon (on the floor by the far left window) used to come standard with hotel rooms. Twin beds, however, were the norm.
The West Baden passenger train depot. Trains used to roll into town and drop off guests literally right at the front steps of the hotel.
Pluto Water "America's Physic" office, 1910. This building used to be situated between the Pluto and Proserpine Springs, near where the little ponds and bridges are today in the hotel's formal gardens.
The Ritter House, 1902. This was among the 20+ other hotels sprinkled throughout the towns of French Lick and West Baden Springs back in the day. The Ritter House was just north of the Homestead Hotel, which still stands today directly across from the front arches of West Baden Springs Hotel.
An advertisement for another local boarding house, the Wells Hotel. It touted the day's latest innovations — electric bells and inside toilets — plus the Pluto Water from nearby French Lick Springs Hotel. And those rates: $1.25 to $2 per day?! (Can we go back to the turn of the 20th century again?)
