"The Eighth Wonder of the World"
Me: "I think at one time this was the Eight Wonder of the World."
Mike: "I doubt that."
Me: "Pretty sure it was."
Mike: "You're right!"
Me: Eye roll...
The new structure opened September 15, 1902 to rave reviews, and advertisements called it the Eighth Wonder of the World.
The West Baden Springs Hotel is a historic landmark hotel in the town of West Baden Springs in Orange County, Indiana, known for its vast domed atrium.
1901
A fire destroys the entire hotel building in less than two hours.
1902
The new West Baden Springs Hotel opens. Sinclair builds the hotel of his dreams—a circular building topped with the world's largest dome, built as much as possible of nonflammable materials and decorated like the grandest spas of Europe.
1778
George Rogers Clark discovers the Southern Indiana mineral springs and salt licks.
When Lane opened his hotel in 1852 near the settlement of Mile Lick, he named his establishment the Mile Lick Inn. The community was renamed West Baden in 1855 after Wiesbaden, the German city known for its mineral springs.
1778
George Rogers Clark discovers the Southern Indiana mineral springs and salt licks. 1832
The first French Lick Springs Hotel is built.
1855
Another hotel is built in the nearby town of Mile Lick, later renamed as West Baden.
1888
As the owner, Lee W. Sinclair transforms the hotel into a sophisticated resort, adding an opera house, a casino, a two-deck pony and bicycle track and a full-size baseball field.
1901
A fire destroys the entire hotel building in less than two hours.
1902
The new West Baden Springs Hotel opens. Sinclair builds the hotel of his dreams—a circular building topped with the world's largest dome, built as much as possible of nonflammable materials and decorated like the grandest spas of Europe.
With the reputation of the Eighth Wonder of the World, ads claim the resort's mineral baths and drinking waters could cure everything from sterility to senility. The hotel offers golf on two courses, horseback riding, billiards, bowling, baseball, swimming, hiking on scenic trails, bicycling, movies and nightly theater. The hotel even has a
1929
Many guests witness the event from the brokerage firm's offices in the hotel. The hotel emptied of guests almost overnight.
1932
The hotel closes.
1934
The hotel is sold to the Jesuits for one dollar. To transform the hotel for use as a seminary called West Baden College, the Jesuits removed many of its elegant appointments and eventually dismantled the building's four Moorish towers rather than invest in their repair.
1964
The West Baden College closes.
1966
The Jesuits sell West Baden to a Michigan couple who donated it to Northwood Institute, a private college, which operated on the property until 1983.
1974
The property is listed as a National Historic Landmark.
1985-1994
The property is tangled in years of litigation before a Los Angeles federal bankruptcy court judge to resolve an issue of contested ownership.
1996
A corporate benefactor, Cook Group Incorporated of Bloomington, Indiana begins to restore the property for redevelopment.
2003
The multiyear lobbying effort succeeds when the Indiana legislature approves the overseeing of the historic hotels and casino district.
2007
The hotel reopens with approximately 240 rooms/suites, reduced from the original 508 small guestrooms in 1932.
