Correction Appended
168 reviews of 33 Brick Street 'We were visiting friends in nearby Celestine, and decided to make a trip to French Lick to see the sights and have dinner. I really like the atmosphere. The decor is pleasantly busy without being overwhelming.
WE glided on ancient steel rails alongside a clear, slow-moving river, past golden fields and red barns, a canopy of green overhead. The view from the Pullman car’s windows looked very much like it did 90 years ago, when Parke Flick used to ride the train with his father, who was on his way to work at the West Baden Springs Resort near French Lick, Ind.
“People called this the Monte Carlo of America back then,” said Mr. Flick, now 94, watching as a little diesel engine pulled five vintage passenger cars into the town’s depot. It stopped just short of the resort, with its mammoth red dome flanked by three white towers. “It was magnificent.”
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The train was how visitors usually arrived in the Roaring Twenties — a dozen or more trainloads a day — when French Lick was one of America’s most famous, and infamous, party towns. Back then French Lick and the surrounding Springs Valley had 30 hotels and 15 clubs. The town, which got its name from the French traders who founded it and the salty mineral deposits that attracted wildlife, was a lawless hangout for a generation of politicians, entertainers, sports idols and gangsters.
“When I went into the Army and told people I was from French Lick, they all knew it, mostly for two things: Pluto Water and gambling,” Mr. Flick said. The mineral water from Pluto Springs may no longer be bottled, but the gambling, after more than a half-century’s absence, is making a comeback.
A $382 million makeover of the area’s two famed Beaux-Arts hotels has just been completed. The hotels, the French Lick Springs Resort and the West Baden Springs Resort, both of which originally opened a few months apart in 1901 and ’02, are national historic landmarks. West Baden’s six-story atrium had the world’s largest free-span dome until the Astrodome opened in 1965.
Continue reading the main storyThe restoration of West Baden Springs is the last major piece of a plan to return tiny French Lick, also known as the hometown of the basketball star Larry Bird, to its long-lost status as one of the Midwest’s biggest resort destinations. West Baden’s 246 guest rooms and suites are expected to open in May, when the hotel will welcome its first paying guests since the Depression.
The neighboring French Lick Springs Resort, rechristened the French Lick Resort Casino, has been open since last fall. It had been closed for two years for a painstakingly thorough refurbishing of its 443 rooms, lobby and other public areas.
And since November at the French Lick resort, gamblers have been able to try their luck at the town’s first licensed casino, one every bit as grand as the big illicit casinos of French Lick’s heyday. The resort’s 84,000-square-foot casino features 1,200 slot machines and dozens of table games like blackjack, roulette, craps and poker.
The restorations evoke memories of French Lick’s long-lost past.
“My father kept up the grounds around the West Baden resort — they were like the of Versailles,” Mr. Flick remembered. “I worked my way into a front office job, and ended up as the auditor. Dad and I were probably the last two people out before they closed years ago. I never thought it would open again. No sir.
“I thought they’d tear it down, if it didn’t fall down first.”
But preservationists saved the West Baden resort, which was near collapse 15 years ago. Guided tours have been available in recent years, but now the whole resort has been restored to its former glory.
At the French Lick resort, “they went first class with everything: linens, furniture, fixtures and all,” said Judi Kimmel, chairwoman of the committee planning the celebration of the town’s 150th anniversary, which takes place this year. “The lobby of the hotel is just absolutely out of this world. It is one of the most ornate things you will ever see. It seems like it’s all gold.”
In fact, much of it is. According to Eric Whitson, a vice president of the resort, the restoration used 6,000 square feet of gold leaf, about a million dollars’ worth.
“The place is a diamond,” said Larry Vormbrock, a retiree from Taylorsville, Ky., who has already visited the new casino several times. “It’s a little bit still in the rough, but when West Baden opens up, it will be a dream place to visit — one of those must-see places.”
THE French Lick Resort Casino also features eight new restaurants, designer shops, a bowling alley, a video game arcade and a swimming pool complete with four life-size dolphin statues spitting water. (The casino, oddly, is built in the shape of a riverboat and is surrounded by a moat, which somehow meets the letter of a 1993 state law allowing gambling on only riverboats.)
Mr. Vormbrock was honored as the winner of the first dollar paid out by the casino, at its grand opening in November.
“They really are to be complimented for hiring the friendliest staff I’ve ever seen,” he said. “I only live seven miles from the Caesars Indiana casino. But this is worth driving the extra 52 miles.”
At its Prohibition Era peak, French Lick boasted 13 casinos, all of them illegal. One of them was even owned by ’s Democratic Party boss, Thomas Taggart, a former mayor of Indianapolis and eventually a United States senator. Another was owned by the impresario and circus owner Ed Ballard, who was the state’s Republican Party chairman. “That’s how the casinos managed to stay open,” Mr. Flick said. “They were protected on both sides of the aisle at the Capitol.”
“It used to be said the road to the White House ran through French Lick,” said Ms. Kimmel. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman and Adlai E. Stevenson were among those who came courting the power brokers in the fabled smoke-filled rooms at the French Lick Springs Resort, prior to their presidential nominations.
Other famous guests from the town’s glamour days included the Marx Brothers, Joe Louis, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.
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“My wife and I walked through there one Sunday afternoon after they opened up,” Mr. Flick said, referring to the Boat in the Moat, as French Lickers call the new casino, “and I said if old Tom Taggart could come back and see this, he wouldn’t know what to think.”
Taggart died in 1929, but then his son Tom Jr. took over. The Depression closed West Baden, but the other casinos in town operated until 1949. That year a new governor, Henry F. Schricker, who had won election as a reformer pledged to clean up French Lick, ordered a police raid on the town to shut down the gambling parlors.
The raid took place while French Lick was packed for Kentucky Derby weekend. Adlai Stevenson, then the governor of Illinois, was in town, as was Eddie Rickenbacker, the president of Eastern Airlines.
“We’ve put a lid on French Lick, once and for all,” Schricker said after the raid. “The gamblers have been told to straighten up and clear out. Indiana will never see the likes of them again.”
But this tiny town of around 2,000 proved tough to tame. Through the 1990s, many groups presented increasingly innovative ideas for legal casinos, including entities headed by Mr. and Donald Trump. Finally in 2003 Bill Cook, an Indianan who owns a company that makes medical devices and whose net worth is estimated at $3.2 billion, his wife, Gayle, and the Lauth Property Group of Indianapolis, won approval for the Boat in the Moat proposal.
The Cooks are also restoring French Lick’s status as a major destination. The historic Donald Ross-designed golf course a few miles west of town reopened for play last fall after an almost archaeological-caliber re-excavation and restoration.
The Donald Ross Course again looks much as it did in 1924, when it was known as the Hills Course and was the site of a United States Open won by Walter Hagen. A second 18-hole layout, designed by Pete Dye, is being built a mile north of the resort and is to open in spring 2008. An almost forgotten course designed by the legendary Tom Bendelow nearly a century ago — adjacent to the old trolley tracks between the two resorts — is also being revived and reconfigured for nine holes, along with indoor and outdoor practice facilities.
That casino trolley is just a memory now, as are the rail lines that once delivered Pullman-loads of hedonists from Louisville, Ky., 55 miles east, and Indianapolis, about 100 miles north. But the French Lick, West Baden & Southern Railway still operates a short sightseeing run from the resort’s historic depot, which also houses the Indiana Railway Museum.
![Larry bird french lick museum Larry bird french lick museum](/uploads/1/2/5/2/125263012/234003000.jpg)
Transportation is the next challenge this area must overcome. The local private airstrip is large enough for small jets, but the nearest commercial airport is in Louisville. A superhighway to Indianapolis is planned but so far unbuilt. Two-lane roads must suffice for now.
The return of the big resorts could be a boon for French Lick and the surrounding Orange County, which has experienced hard times since the ’49 raid. The county’s days of having the state’s highest unemployment rate and lowest median household income appear to be ending. “We were slowly becoming a ghost town,” said Jerry Denbo, a French Lick native and state assemblyman who supports legalized gambling.
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Now, of the more than 1,000 resort employees who have been hired, well over half are from Orange County.
Colorful names adorn towns throughout this part of southern Indiana — places like Beanblossom, Pumpkin Center, Santa Claus, Hindustan, Buddha and Gnaw Bone. But none has a history as colorful as French Lick’s, or, perhaps, a future as bright.
VISITOR INFORMATION
THE two closest major airports to French Lick are in Louisville, Ky., about an hour away, and Indianapolis, about two hours distant. Greenwood Aviation (317-605-9144; www.greenwood-aviation.com) offers a charter service from Indianapolis for $99 round trip to French Lick’s general aviation airstrip.
Rates for lodging at the 443-room French Lick Resort Casino (8670 West State Road 56; 812-936-9300; www.frenchlick.com) start at $139 a night for a king and climb to $1,200 a night for the luxurious Pool Suite; the smaller F. D. R., Governor’s and Walter Hagen suites go for slightly less.
The West Baden Springs Hotel has the same contact information, and uses the same address. Reservations are being accepted for June 1 and beyond, although the hotel’s 246 rooms might be open a week or two earlier. Room rates start at $229, or $350 for suites. Tours ($10) are offered of the lobby, the formal and the huge atrium. Big night out: the presidential-size Cook Suite, a multi-room mini-mansion that rents for $5,000 nightly.
A quaint alternative is the Beechwood Country Inn (8315 West State Route 56; 812-936-9012; www.beechwoodin.com), the former mansion of the gambling and circus tycoon Ed Ballard, who once owned the West Baden Springs Hotel and its casino. The inn has a restaurant and just six rooms, ranging from $129 for the maid’s quarters (better than it sounds) to $229 for the baronial Ballard Suite. Of special note: the Room, where Irving Berlin and Cole Porter each composed tunes. The inn’s owners, Tami and Ray Thompson, may also regale you with tales of other famous visitors, including Howard Hughes, Joe Louis and a gangster or two.
Would-be dudes and dudettes may prefer the Wilstem Guest Ranch (812-936-4484; www.wilstemguestranch.com), the Ballard family’s former cattle spread, six miles east on Route 150. (Watch out for slow-moving Amish buggies.) The ranch’s cabins have 12 units and the property is 1,100 acres, big enough for 30 miles of horse trails, a pond and a convention-size barn.
Correction: March 30, 2007 An article on March 16 about the reopening of resorts at French Lick, Ind., misstated the name of a golf tournament that Walter Hagen won there in 1924. It was the PGA Championship, not the United States Open.
Location of French Lick in Orange County, Indiana. | |
Coordinates: 38°32′49″N86°37′8″W / 38.54694°N 86.61889°WCoordinates: 38°32′49″N86°37′8″W / 38.54694°N 86.61889°W | |
Country | United States |
---|---|
State | Indiana |
County | Orange |
Township | French Lick |
Area | |
• Total | 1.83 sq mi (4.75 km2) |
• Land | 1.83 sq mi (4.75 km2) |
• Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
Elevation | 499 ft (152 m) |
Population | |
• Total | 1,807 |
• Estimate (2018)[4] | 1,771 |
• Density | 965.08/sq mi (372.72/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (EST) |
ZIP code | |
Area code(s) | 812 Exchanges: 936,938 |
FIPS code | 18-25972[5] |
GNIS feature ID | 450938 |
French Lick is a town in French Lick Township, Orange County, in the U.S. state of Indiana.[6] The population was 1,807 at the 2010 census. In November 2006, the French Lick Resort Casino, the state's tenth casino in the modern legalized era, opened, drawing national attention to the small town. However, it is best known as the hometown of basketball legend Larry Bird.
- 3Demographics
History[edit]
French Lick was originally a Frenchtrading post built near a spring and salt lick. A fortified ranger post was established near the springs in 1811. On Johnson's 1837 map of Indiana, the community was known as Salt Spring. The town was founded in 1857.[7] French Lick's post office has been in operation since 1847.[8]
The sulfur springs were commercially exploited for medical benefits starting in 1840. By the later half of the 19th century, French Lick was famous in the United States as a spa town. In the early 20th century it also featured casinos attracting celebrities such as boxer Joe Louis, composer Irving Berlin and gangster Al Capone.
Due to wartime travel restrictions, the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox held spring training in French Lick from 1943-1944; in 1945 the Cubs stayed in town while the White Sox moved to Terre Haute - utilizing Memorial Stadium. In order to conserve rail transport during World War II, 1943 spring training was limited to an area east of the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio River.[9]
The French Lick Resort Casino was the focal point of most of the entertainment; the hotel remained open well after the casinos were closed down and the heyday of the town was well past. The resort closed for renovation in 2005 and re-opened in 2006.
Pluto Water, a best selling laxative of the first half of the 20th century, was bottled here. It was also home to a large 7 Up bottling facility, which ceased operations in the mid-20th century.
Franklin D. Roosevelt announced his intention to run for president at a National Governors' Convention held at the French Lick Springs Hotel.
The town is famous as the hometown of NBA great Larry Bird. Bird started for French Lick/West Baden's high school team, Springs Valley High School, where he left as the school's all-time scoring leader. In his later basketball career, one of Bird's nicknames was 'the Hick from French Lick'. French Lick is also the hometown of former Sacramento Kingshead coachJerry Reynolds, who currently works as the team's color commentator on its television broadcasts and is the Kings' director of player personnel.
In 2015, the Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort played host to the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.
Photo from Small Town Indiana photo survey.
Geography[edit]
French Lick is located at 38°32′49″N86°37′8″W / 38.54694°N 86.61889°W (38.546872, -86.618939).[10] The area has rich mineral sources ('The Lick').
According to the 2010 census, French Lick has a total area of 1.77 square miles (4.58 km2), all land.[11]
Demographics[edit]
Historical population | |||
---|---|---|---|
Census | Pop. | %± | |
1900 | 260 | -- | |
1910 | 1,803 | 593.5% | |
1920 | 1,980 | 9.8% | |
1930 | 2,462 | 24.3% | |
1940 | 2,042 | −17.1% | |
1950 | 1,946 | −4.7% | |
1960 | 1,954 | 0.4% | |
1970 | 2,059 | 5.4% | |
1980 | 2,265 | 10.0% | |
1990 | 2,087 | −7.9% | |
2000 | 1,941 | −7.0% | |
2010 | 1,807 | −6.9% | |
Est. 2018 | 1,771 | [4] | −2.0% |
U.S. Decennial Census[12] |
Larry Bird French Lick Indiana
2010 census[edit]
As of the census[3] of 2010, there were 1,807 people, 764 households, and 439 families living in the town. The population density was 1,020.9 inhabitants per square mile (394.2/km2). There were 924 housing units at an average density of 522.0 per square mile (201.5/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 88.8% White, 5.8% African American, 0.3% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 0.9% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.1% of the population.
There were 764 households of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.6% were married couples living together, 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.5% were non-families. 36.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.93.
The median age in the town was 39.2 years. 24% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.6% were from 25 to 44; 25.4% were from 45 to 64; and 18.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 46.9% male and 53.1% female.
2000 census[edit]
'Pluto Spring', French Lick, 1903
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,941 people, 849 households, and 513 families living in the town. The population density was 1,196.3 people per square mile (462.6/km²). There were 948 housing units at an average density of 584.3 per square mile (225.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.18% White, 3.66% African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.41% Asian, 0.26% from other races, and 1.24% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.46% of the population.
There were 849 households out of which 25.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.6% were married couples living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.5% were non-families. 35.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.81.
Blue Sky Casino French Lick
In the town, the population was spread out with 22.0% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 20.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.6 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $27,197, and the median income for a family was $36,583. Males had a median income of $26,046 versus $17,346 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,113. About 11.8% of families and 18.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.7% of those under age 18 and 17.8% of those age 65 or over.
Education[edit]
The town has a lending library, the Melton Public Library.[13]
References[edit]
- ^'2016 U.S. Gazetteer Files'. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved Jul 28, 2017.
- ^'US Board on Geographic Names'. United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ ab'American FactFinder'. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
- ^ ab'Population and Housing Unit Estimates'. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
- ^'American FactFinder'. United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^'French Lick, Indiana'. Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2017-05-02.
- ^History of Lawrence, Orange, and Washington Counties, Indiana: From the Earliest Time to the Present. Higginson Book Company. 1884. p. 505.
- ^'Orange County'. Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
- ^Suehsdorf, A. D. (1978). The Great American Baseball Scrapbook, p. 103. Random House. ISBN0-394-50253-1.
- ^'US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990'. United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^'G001 - Geographic Identifiers - 2010 Census Summary File 1'. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
- ^'Census of Population and Housing'. Census.gov. Archived from the original on April 26, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ^'Indiana public library directory'(PDF). Indiana State Library. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
Larry Bird French Lick Casino And Resort
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