West Baden Springs Hotel (#0302)

When I was a student at Indiana University in the early 1980’s, one of most vocal and key people in gay student activism was a guy from French Lick, a town I’d never heard of. It turned out that this rural town in southern Indiana had a long history as a resort area due to hot springs.

Pictured here is the West Baden Springs Hotel in West Baden Springs. The hotel opened in 1902, is six floors with, originally, roughly 500 rooms, and an atrium with what was once the largest dome in the U.S. Though it attracted wealthy patrons in its early years, it suffered with the Great Depression and the original owners donated it to the Jesuits. From 1934 to 1964 it operated as a Jesuit seminary, but then had a spotty history with various efforts at restoration until being bought by the nearby French Lick Resort Casino and reopening in 2006. The structure is a registered National Historic Landmark.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Baden_Springs_Hotel