West Baden's Impossible Dome and Hidden Stories

West Baden Springs, Indiana. After my conversation with Jeff Lane at the West Baden Hotel, I went over to the French Lake Hotel to meet Dan Fracher for a tour of both campuses. Because I've already covered the general history of the West Baden Hotel in our interview with Jeff, I'll be focusing on some of the quirkier or more detailed parts of the West Baden story during that part of the tour.

TIMELINE
1893: Built in 1893, a two-story wooden oval track, one-third of a mile around.
1901: June 14, 1901, one o'clock in the morning, fire strikes, and the four-story wooden hotel is destroyed by fire.
1902: Hotel Literature 1902 boasts and brags about a mammoth brick fireplace that can hold a 14-foot log.
1929: October 1929, stock market crash, the death blow.
1971: 1971, the federal government banned the sale of Pluto water because it contains lithium carbonate.
1991: Winter of 1991, a few months shy of the property's 89th birthday, a 108-foot section of the hotel collapsed.

WHY THIS MATTERS
The story of West Baden Springs is a reminder that the events that shaped America didn't always happen in the biggest cities. What unfolded here left marks on the community that are still visible today. The full story is more complicated, and more human, than the version most people know.

Episode 113 | Hometown History | Hosted by Shane Waters

If you liked this: Episode 180 (Hagerstown, Indiana)

Hometown History explores forgotten stories from small-town America. The overlooked events, hidden triumphs, and buried tragedies that shaped the country we live in. New episodes every Tuesday. Find every episode at mythsandmalice.com/hometown-history

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy