wildlife wildflowers and waterfalls: Indiana Christmas Roadtrip

wildlife wildflowers and waterfalls

because "...you can't invent more time." Lemony Snicket

Dan and Linda's Travel Journal

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

 

Indiana Christmas Roadtrip

A recent roadtrip to Huntingberg, Indiana, to visit family is a bit further than our our last Kansas Christmas roadtrip . Still, it's an easy day's drive and the nearby southern Indiana West Baden Springs Hotel is a definite destination especially during the holidays.

After a walk around the grounds then inside to absorb the breathtaking beauty of the hotel, we decide a tour is in order to learn how this unbelievable building came to be located in this rural area of Indiana.

It is all about the springs, mineral springs that George Rogers Clark decided had curative powers in 1778. In 1832 a hotel was built at French Lick and 1855 in West Baden Springs. According to the tour leader, by end of the 19th century, seven rail lines brought well to do guests to the hotels to “take the cure” and participate in hushed gambling.

In 1901 the West Baden Springs hotel burned. In September 1902, a 35-year old architect named Harrison Albright of West Virginia completed a building that featured a rotunda 200 feet across and a 100 foot high domed roof untethered by any central support. Hard to believe this was built using the technology of 100 years ago. No wonder it was called the “Eighth Wonder of the World.”

Since that time, it was used as a hospital in World War I then sold to Jesuits after the Great Depression diminished its affluent guests. While the seminarians kept up the building's structure fairly well, the four Moorish towers were dismantled. They finally sold it in 1964 for use as a private college which operated until 1983. Although the building is listed as a National Historic Landmark, it needed massive expensive renovations which was undertaken by the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. The result of these efforts are well worth a visit.

Click here for a slide show of the hotel.

Flint Hills, Indiana or just around the neighorhood, have a Merry Christmas roadtrip.

Comments:
Great slideshow! That's a gorgeous hotel and grounds. Is it a museum for touring or is it an active hotel now? Indiana is only one state over from us and that hotel looks like something I'd like to visit someday. I'm a real history nut. The only drawback is to get there we'd have to drive through Ohio.......
 
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Wild Card Wine Trail Hermann Missouri May, 2012

St Patrick's Day, Weston Missouri March 2012

Alaska, 2011

Texas Hill Country Blue Bonnets 2011

Colorado - Hwy I-25 to Durango, Hwy 550 (Million Dollar Hwy) to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park - August. 2010

Butterfly Pavilion, Denver CO April 2010

Colorado, Phoenix AZ, and Palestine Lake near Tyler TX March 2010

Indiana Christmas Roadtrip December 2009

Symphony in the Flint Hills 2009

Missouri Chocolate Wine Trail February 2009

Oktoberfest Hermann Missouri, October 2008

Black Hills-Buffalo Roundup-Devils Tower Sept 2008

Cache La Poudre River, Routt National Forest and Colorado State Forest July 2008

Symphony in the Flint Hills 2008

Breckenridge Family Ski Vacation January 2008

Iowa and South Along the Mississippi River November 2007

Cherokee Land Rush October 2007

Missouri Wine Trail October 2007

The Great American Cattle Drive Ellsworth KS Sept. 2007

Overbrook Fair August, 2007

The Woodward Topeka KS July 2007

Symphony in the Flint Hills 2007

St. Louis April 2007

Cottonwood Falls Scenic Byway December 2006

Acadia National Park and New England States Fall 2006

Destination Phoenix January 2006

Kansas: Home along Hwy 56 January 2006

Canadian Fishing Trip August 2005

Missouri Trees and Wine October 2005

Kansas: Goodland to Home Hwy 36 July 2005

Breckenridge--Family Vacation July 2005

Flint Hills Barn Tour October 2004

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