French Lick Springs Hotel

A grand resort with roots going back to 1845, expanded in 1901 under Indianapolis mayor Thomas Taggart. Think mineral springs, a casino, and sweeping grounds — it's quite a place.

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.

Thomas Taggart's ghost is the hotel's most prominent spirit. Guests and staff have encountered him on the sixth floor, where 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 think he conducts phantom quality checks during busy periods, and in the hallways where witnesses have seen 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 coming 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 him 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.

The rest of the property has plenty of its own activity. Red stains have been reported mysteriously appearing in vacant bathtubs. The ghost of a murdered gambler reportedly searches 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 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 activity. The resort has embraced its haunted reputation, and the combination of its 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.