West Baden Springs, Indiana

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West Baden Springs is a town in Orange County, Indiana, United States. The population was 618 at the 2000 census.

1 West Baden Springs Hotel
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 External links

[edit] West Baden Springs Hotel

West Baden Springs Dome

The hotel is a former health spa resort based on several mineral springs located on the property. The hotel operated from the early 1900s until the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Subsequently, it operated as a Jesuit seminary college. Vacant after 1983, the "Eighth Wonder of the World" slipped into extreme decay, resulting in the North wall of building to collapse.^{[citation needed]} Bill Cook, a Bloomington, Indiana, entrepreneur and billionaire, financed a partial restoration of the property to make it safe and preserve it until a use could be found.

The property is currently undergoing a complete renovation as a part of the French Lick Resort Casino. The Resort and Casino opened in November 2006, with the restored West Baden Springs Hotel scheduled to reopen for guests in the Spring of 2007.

Tours are currently available at the cost of $10 per person Sunday only at 10am, Noon, 2 and 4 pm. Tours of the French Lick Springs Hotel are conducted daily at the same times. Contact Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana's West Baden Springs office at 866-571-8687 for more information.

[edit] Geography

West Baden Springs is located at 38°34′1″N, 86°36′42″W (38.567018, -86.611601)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.8 km² (1.1 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 618 people, 263 households, and 175 families residing in the town. The population density was 223.0/km² (577.8/mi²). There were 292 housing units at an average density of 105.4/km² (273.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.50% White, 2.10% African American, 0.81% Native American, 0.81% Asian, 1.13% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.07% of the population.

There were 263 households out of which 24.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.1% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the town the population was spread out with 21.7% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 26.5% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $32,750, and the median income for a family was $40,357. Males had a median income of $29,444 versus $19,375 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,532. About 10.3% of families and 9.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.8% of those under age 18 and 13.5% of those age 65 or over.