A Stroll through the Hotel Gardens from the Early Days

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It’s always a nice time for a walk in the gardens — even if it’s just a pictorial stroll through history.

We’re opening up the photo archives for a look at the French Lick Springs Hotel gardens and the West Baden Springs Hotel gardens from the early days of the hotel. Even in black and white, these gardens are a sight to behold.

A view of the French Lick Springs Hotel upper gardens, circa 1913. These were located behind the hotel, near where the French Lick Villas are located today. 

A ground-level view of this area shows how wooded this garden area used to be 100+ years ago. The shade was much appreciated by guests, since this was long before the days of air conditioning. This was just to the west and up the hill from the famed Pluto Spring House, where guests would drink the famous Pluto mineral water. The custom of the day was to "take the waters" then take a walk around the gardens or hotel grounds, because light exercise was recommended while waiting for the laxative effect of the waters to kick in. 

Also note the sundial in the middle of the walking path. The sundial contained the message: "Time and tide wait for no man; neither does Pluto."


This area was also known as the Rose Garden, because of the brightly colored beds of roses flanked by blue spruce and pine trees and red brick. 

A low, marshy area behind the hotel was also transformed into a Japanese style garden — this is the same area the hotel gardens are today. This became another favorite spot for guests to enjoy, with foot bridges, koi ponds, a bamboo fence, ferns, evergreens and water lilies. 


Even blanketed in winter snow, the garden aura was special.


Taking a quiet moment in the gardens. 

Postcard images of the gardens, from the early 1900s. 




Likewise at West Baden Springs Hotel, the gardens were a central focus of the hotel experience. A major fire in 1917 destroyed an opera house, bowling alley, hospital, bottling plant and hot water pavilion in this area adjacent to the hotel. The sunken gardens, created in 1920, contain the original brick walls and walkways from when the garden was first built.


An old-time garden view from the West Baden Springs Hotel veranda.

More of a bird's-eye view of the gardens from historic postcards. The postcard above delivers a great view of the three spring houses/pavilions. Apollo (bottom left) and Hygeia (far right) are still standing today, while the Sprudel Pavilion (near the middle of the photo) was razed in 1974. In the upper left near the grove of trees, you can see the edge of the former bicycle and pony track.