Front porch detail at French Lick Springs Hotel at 8670 W. State Road 56. For more than 170 years, a lodging establishment has operated at the current site of French Lick Springs Hotel. It all began with Dr. William Bowles and continued to thrive under various owners. It was under Tom Taggart's innovative direction that French Lick Springs Hotel made great strides in d�cor, development and transportation. He also built pavilions for the springs and added a new bath building on the current site of the Spa at French Lick Springs Hotel. After Taggart�s son eventually sold the hotel, it was owned by five companies over a span of 60 years, operating out of five different states. In 2005, French Lick Springs Hotel was purchased by Indiana-based Cook Group, Inc. and after a complete restoration, it returned the hotel back to its historic splendor. In 1845, Dr. William Bowles, a physician from nearby Paoli, Indiana, built a three-story wooden framed hotel he named French Lick Springs Hotel. Bowles used his knowledge as a physician to explore the healing properties of the abundant mineral springs in this area. Outgoing mayor of Indianapolis, Tom Taggart, along with a small group of investors, formed the French Lick Hotel Company and bought the property in 1901. Taggart�s improvements included enlarging the east wing (now known as the Spa Wing), encouraging the Monon Railroad to lay a special spur and run daily trains between Chicago and the front entrance of the hotel, and modernizing and expanding the mineral springs for which the hotel was becoming famous. He used the yellow French Lick Brick, scagliola (faux marble) and Italian mosaic floors. He also built a new bottling house for water from his Pluto Spring for national distribution and brought electricity, a freshwater system and a trolley line to the town. While French Lick Springs Hotel was expanding, the game of golf was gaining popularity worldwide. In 1907, Taggart hired Tom Bendelow to design the resort�s first championship golf course, known at the time as the Springs Valley Golf Links Course. Bendelow�s design was completed by 1910. In 1917, Donald Ross � a well-known golf architect � was hired to design and build the French Lick Springs Golf Course two miles southwest of French Lick Springs Hotel. The locals referred to it as �The Hill Course.� Completed in three years, Ross�s course consisted of unconventional bunkers and steep curves. . In the spring of 2005, a partnership led by Cook Group, Inc., a global medical device manufacturing company headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, purchased French Lick Springs Hotel and West Baden Springs Hotel. Under the direction of Bill and Gayle Cook and their son Carl, both hotels and their grounds received a multi-million dollar renovation, returning them to the grandeur of the days of Taggart and uniting them as one resort. That summer, with renovation work underway, Blue Sky, LLC officially acquired the 11th and last available casino license from the Indiana Gaming Commission. French Lick Springs Hotel remained open during the beginning of construction, but as concerns arose, the hotel was forced to close in November. The Donald Ross Course at French Lick (formerly the Hill Course) reopened in September 2006 after a $4.6 million restoration. This rehaul returned the course to Donald Ross� early vision. One year after closing, French Lick Springs Hotel reopened after an extensive renovation. On the same day, the French Lick Casino held its grand opening, becoming the first land-based casino in Indiana. With the completion of the West Baden Springs Hotel restoration in 2007, French Lick Resort was born. This restoration means the hotel looks much better today than is seen in these photographs.