You've probably seen vintage photos of the West Baden Springs Hotel atrium, lobby and exterior from past blogs. Today, we're taking a little deeper dive into the other spaces in the hotel that made it so awe-inspiring when it first opened in 1902. Some of these vintage images from 100+ years ago are small and obviously not the high-res shots we can easily take today on our cell phones — but they still provide a feel for the era and how much things have changed.
This place was like a mini mall, with a newsstand, barbershop, smoking rooms, drugstore, tailor shop and a bank. Shown below are more: the Oriental Shop, manicure parlor, cigar stand and gentleman's haberdashery (lower left). The entrances to these shops opened up into the atrium.
The waiting area at the Logan & Bryan Stock stockbrokerage office.
The old West Baden dining room. Today, this area still houses Café Sinclair's and Sinclair's Restaurant.
Above the dining room was the ballroom and convention hall. This area was converted into guestrooms and suites when the hotel was restored in the mid-2000s.
The kitchen and bakery.
The laundry and linen room.
A bowling alley and billiard hall were housed in a separate building in the gardens. Constructed in 1917, this Billiard & Bowling Pavilion is being restored to its original use with six lanes of bowling and pool tables.
Former hotel owner Lee Sinclair was a big fan of Western movies, so naturally, he had a small movie theater in his hotel. See the soldiers that are on each side of the entrance to the theater? They were carved from limestone and were displayed at one of the main entrances of the original hotel. When that original hotel burned down in 1901, the limestone soldiers somehow weren't damaged. They were recovered and brought inside to be displayed inside the new hotel when it was rebuilt on the same site.
Also note the horn next to the podium in the middle. It was used to call out the time for the next show to the guests in the atrium. (And, presumably, echo mightily in that huge atrium.)
The natatorium was an impressive two-story structure with a pool 35 feet wide and 135 feet long.
Printing office, telegraph office and writing room.
Back in the day, medical services were also among the hotel's extensive amenities.
Some of the other interior rooms were the finest of their day. How incredible would it have been to experience the hotel like this a century ago?
