French Lick Springs Hotel

A grand resort hotel built in 1845, expanded to its current form in 1901 under the ownership of Thomas Taggart, a former mayor of Indianapolis. The property features mineral springs, a casino, and expansive grounds.

French Lick Springs Hotel in Orange County, Indiana, has been a destination for travelers seeking the area's famed mineral springs since it was first established in 1845. The hotel's transformation into a world-class resort began in 1888 when Thomas Taggart, the influential mayor of Indianapolis and chairman of the Democratic National Committee, purchased the property and expanded it into a flourishing spa and casino resort for the wealthy. Under Taggart's stewardship, the hotel gained championship golf courses, bottled mineral water operations, and a reputation as the unofficial headquarters of the Democratic National Party. President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited in 1931. Taggart's devotion to the hotel was absolute -- and according to decades of witness testimony, it survived his death in 1929.

The ghost of Thomas Taggart is the hotel's most prominent spirit. Guests and staff have encountered his apparition on the sixth floor, where disembodied voices echo through the corridors and the unmistakable scent of tobacco fills the air even though no one is smoking anywhere nearby. Taggart's ghost has been spotted near the service elevator, where staff believe he conducts phantom quality checks during busy periods, and in the hallways where witnesses have claimed to see his spirit moving with purpose, as if still inspecting every detail of the operation. On occasion, the sounds of a lively party -- music, laughter, clinking glasses -- have been heard emanating from empty ballrooms, as though Taggart is hosting one of his legendary gatherings for a guest list that no living person can see.

The hotel's second most active spirit is a bellhop whose identity became clear in an unusual way. Guests and staff began reporting a shadowy figure in uniform standing by luggage carts and moving urgently down hallways as if attending to tasks. When paranormal investigators examined the hotel, they documented a well-defined orb in the hallway near where the bellhop figure appears. Visitors initially mistake the apparition for a current employee -- until they see old photographs displayed in the hotel and recognize the face of a man who worked there generations ago.

A third spirit is associated with a man named Charlie Skaggs, who was found dead at the bottom of an elevator shaft in the 1970s. Charlie reportedly communicates through EVP devices during paranormal investigations. In one notable incident, police officers visiting the hotel supposedly left a note reading "tell Charlie we said hello" -- despite no employee by that name working there at the time.

Additional paranormal activity pervades the property. Red stains have been reported mysteriously appearing in vacant bathtubs. The ghost of a murdered gambler is said to search for stolen money near the room where he was killed. A woman in white has been seen standing over the beds of sleeping guests, while a man in a black suit has been reported following visitors through the corridors before vanishing. Lights flicker when staff members work alone, phantom phone calls ring at the front desk with no one on the line, and disembodied voices have been captured on recording equipment throughout the building.

The hotel underwent a major restoration and reopened in 2006 as part of the French Lick Resort, a luxury destination that includes a casino, spa, and multiple golf courses. The renovation did nothing to diminish the paranormal activity. The resort has embraced its haunted reputation, and the combination of its storied history -- from Gilded Age excess to Prohibition-era gambling to modern luxury -- ensures that French Lick Springs Hotel remains one of Indiana's most fascinating and most haunted destinations.