FRENCH LICK

resort town, Orange county, southern Indiana, U.S. It lies 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Louisville, Ky., and is encircled by Hoosier National Forest. Founded in 1811, the settlement was named after an 18th-century French trading post in the area and an animal (salt) lick within the town boundaries. The first hotel on the site was built in the early 1840s by William A. Bowles, who laid out the town in 1857. Thomas Taggart (18561929), later chairman of the Democratic National Committee, purchased the hotel in about 1900 and was instrumental in French Lick's development as a year-round health resort and convention centre. The hotel has spa facilities based on water with high mineral content from nearby artesian springs. At West Baden Springs (1 mile north) is a former grand resort hotel that now houses Northwood Institute (1966), a business college. Inc. 1857. Pop. (1990) 2,087.