M.P. D16.6 - 7th Subdivision -

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.

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. 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.

-Courtesy Orange County, Indiana Website-

Panoramic View of West Baden, 1912. This was taken from the Springs Hotel. -Courtesy of Pete Pedigo-

Left: West Baden Springs Resort, date unknown. Right: West Baden Springs 1925.

West Baden Springs National Historic Landmark is open year-round for guided tours. The former spa hotel, located about 100 miles south of Indianapolis, was partially restored by Cook Group Incorporated of Bloomington and Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. Pictured is the breathtaking atrium, now beautifully restored to its original splendor. The West Baden Springs Hotel in West Baden Indiana is one of the most unique architectural structures. Until 1963, when the Astrodome was built, the hotel's dome was the largest in the world, 200 feet in diameter, 100 feet in height. The dome is larger than St. Peter Basilica and the Pantheon. It was built in 277 days in 1902 and required 30 months to restore in 1996-98. The original four towers were recreated and lifted by helicopter in October 1998; this date marks the completion of the restoration.

Left: The West Baden depot, circa 1964. Even back then it looks like the structure has seen better days. Right November 1979. Looking at downtown West Baden. Tracks are still visible.

Two views of the depot at West Baden in better time. Left: Looking down the mainline towards French Lick. Center: Looking up the mainline towards Paoli, Right French Lick And West Baden Trolley.

Southern Railroad on the Monon? Left and Right: Southern passenger trains making stops at the West Baden depot. What is interesting about these images are the positions of the locomotives. Did the Southern turn the train on the French Lick wye and back down to the West Baden depot? Sure looks like it.

Left: Another view of the West Baden depot. Right: One of the common floods which occur from time to time. -Pete Pedigo Collection-

West Baden freight house, date unknown. One of the great shots from the Charles Huffer CD collection, available from the Monon Railroad Historical-Technical Society.

Left: Right of way shot French Lick Branch mainline and the West Baden depot. Right: Looking East, or towards Paoli along the mainline of the French Lick Branch.

Left: Mainline and siding near the enterance to the West Baden Springs. Right: Mainline that ran next to Highway 150 in West Baden.

Left: Highway 150 crossing. Abydell Road is too the right. Right: Right of way shot East of the crossing.

Front gate of the West Baden Springs, November 1979. Note tracks of old right of way still visible. Also tracks running under the arch on the left side of the picture. These tracks are the remains of the short lived French Lick and West Baden Trolley line which ran from the front steps of the West Baden Hotel, past the French Lick Hotel and into downtown Frenck Lick.