Al Capone gambled at the casinos in French Lick and West Baden, and used underground tunnels to move around undetected. Al Capone was part of a shootout at West Baden Springs Hotel that left bullet holes in the side of the building. Al Capone had a “French Lick girlfriend” whom he’d always see when he was here. Al Capone got married in a barn a few miles outside French Lick, and he also owned a whiskey still out there for bootlegging. Folks from this area grew up hearing the stories from their parents and grandparents. Maybe you’ve even heard the tales during your visit to one of our hotels. There’s so many anecdotes about Al Capone using this area as a hideout spot that it has to be true. Or is it? Nobody has 100 percent, smoking-gun proof to solve the Capone riddle either way. But that just feeds even more into the juicy intrigue of this history mystery. So we’re dedicating a series of blogs in the next few weeks to try and shed some light on the debate: D...

Did Capone Hide Out Here? Another Side to the History Mystery

Maybe you’ve heard some of the tales. We’ve shared many of them in Part 1 and Part 2 in our blog series about whether Al Capone visited French Lick and West Baden Springs nearly 100 years ago. These stories, they’re good. But are they too good to be true? Those with a firm grasp on history tend to think the legend of Capone is nothing more than far-flung fiction. A good authority on the topic is Sandi Woodward, the Program Manager at Indiana Landmarks, which conducts the historical tours at both West Baden and French Lick Springs Hotels. With her fervor for history and Capone’s rumored connection to this area, Sandi has read up on Capone and traced his footsteps. She’s never seen anything that’s ever led him to French Lick. No photos. No credible accounts or reports. Sandi has devoted time of her own to searching for that elusive proof. Until someone produces that, Sandi’s pretty certain of one thing: “No. Al Capone was never here,” she says. “I’d love for it to ...

A Walk with the Historian at West Baden: Part 1

Just imagine for a second that you’re living in 1902. You probably haven’t seen a skyscraper or architectural marvel that knocks your itchy wool socks off. You hear about this larger-than-life hotel that people are calling the Eighth Wonder of the World and you have to go see it for yourself. You walk up the steps to West Baden Springs Hotel (pictured to the right how it appeared at the time) and get set to feast your eyes on this breathtaking dome everyone’s been talking about. You open the doors, step into the lobby and gaze up. “They might walk in and say, ‘Wow! This is the dome!’ Well, yeah, for a moment until they walk a little further (into the atrium below the 200-foot diameter dome). And then they’re just in total awe,” says French Lick Resort historian Jeff Lane. The lobby at West Baden is an appropriate starting point for our next series of Walk with the Historian blogs, which we did with Jeff a while back at French Lick Springs Hotel . The point is to shin...

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