This month we are visiting French Lick Springs, Indiana.
The first inn and hotel was built around 1832 – 1845 when Thomas Boweles, a physician, purchased the land near the mineral springs and opened it to visitors during the summer months. The hotel has had renovations, partially because of fires and ownership.
In 1901, Thomas Taggart bought and enlarged the hotel and faced it with its trademark brick that can still be seen today. Taggart also hired Thomas Bendelow to design a golf course on the property in 1907, being one of the first courses in America. Later, Donald Ross created a course in 1917, which is still used today and has hosted the Professional Golfers’ Association of America’s annual golf tournament. Today, thanks to the Cook family of Bloomington, Indiana, the hotel was able to reopen in 2006 after years of disrepair. The casino resort still draws in a large crowd of visitors and events every year.
One of the resorts claims to fame was Pluto’s Water, from Pluto’s well on the property. In 1869, A physician named Joseph G. Rogers named the largest spring at the hotel Pluto’s Well (Pluto, the mythological Greek god of the underworld) and began manufacturing bottles of water from the well as a cure for ailments like gout, alcoholism, arthritis, and gastrointestinal issues. Pluto Water’s high content of sodium, magnesium sulfate, and lithium salts made it effective within one hour of ingestion. The company had to halt production in 1971 when lithium became a controlled substance.
Notable guests of the resort have included Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, the Vanderbilt family and Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan.
Join us next month for our next Travel Tuesday post!
Sources:
French Lick Springs. (Medical Trade Ephemera Collection) Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA.
Indiana Landmarks. “French Lick Springs Hotel” https://www.indianalandmarks.org/tours-events/ongoing-tours-events/french-lick-west-baden/history/
French Lick Resort. https://www.frenchlick.com/hotels/frenchlick