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A history of the area. For specific
information, click on any of the links within the text.
Like neighboring French Lick,
West Baden earned its fame from its mineral springs.
Originally known as Mile Lick, the community was renamed
West Baden, after Weisbaden, Germany, in 1888.
Since the only thing that separates
West Baden and French Lick is a boundary line, the
two towns share many historical similarities and are
locally referred to as "Springs Valley." The towns were
built around lavish resort hotels and in
West Baden it was the
West Baden Springs Hotel, now referred to as the
West Baden Springs National Historic Landmark.
It took architect Harrison Albright only 277 days in 1902 to
complete the current
West Baden Springs Hotel for owner Lee Wiley
Sinclair. The structure features a 200-foot domed
atrium, the largest free-span dome in the world until
the Houston Astrodome was built in 1968.
 Like
the town of
West Baden, the
West Baden Springs Hotel has a European nickname. A
celebrated German physician once told Colonel Fred de
Funiak, who visited Europe to take in the waters of
Carlsbad, that he considered the
West Baden Springs Hotel the "Carlsbad of America."
Following the death of Sinclair, the hotel was
purchased by local millionaire Charles Edward Ballard,
who owned the Homestead Hotel across the street and
seven traveling circuses. The hotel continued to thrive
under Ballard, mostly because of the illegal gambling in
the community. |
 Following
the stock market crash, Ballard sold the property for $1
to the Society of the Jesuits. The group of Catholic men
owned the property until the mid 1960s when it became
Northwood Institute, a small community college.
It operated as a college until the 1980s when it
changed ownership continually until it fell into near
disrepair. Through an anonymous donation,
Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana bought the
property and still owns it today. Through the generosity
of the
Cook Group Foundation of Bloomington, Indiana,
the public areas of the structure have been returned to
its 1920s grandeur and routine historical walking tours
of the grounds are conducted daily.
Until the stock market crash and the Great Depression,
the town of
West Baden had earned from travelers the nickname of
"The Monte Carlo of America." While it was the
West Baden Springs Hotel that brought the rich and
famous (and even the infamous gangster Al Capone) to the
area, there were other prominent businessmen who left
their marks on
West Baden.
E. B. Rhodes was one of those prominent business people
and his home overlooking the
West Baden Springs Hotel, still serves as a bed and
breakfast, the
E. B.
Rhodes House. Rhodes built the Victorian-style home
in 1899.
Before it made its way to French Lick,
West Baden was the first stop in the area for the
Monon Line. Wealthy travelers from cities like Chicago,
Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and routinely made their way
to
West Baden via the Monon and B&O railroad lines.
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Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau
Post Office Box 71, French Lick, Indiana 47432
www.orangecounty.travel
Toll free: (877) 422-9925 Local: (812) 936-3418 Fax: (812) 936-7112
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