PAOLI REPUBLICAN
APRIL 1, 1896

OPEN MONDAY

PAOLI MINERAL SPRINGS HOTEL

Something About the Magnificent Structure and
the Management of the Spendid Hostlery

BRIGHT FUTURE

The Paoli Mineral Springs Hotel, in which every Paolian and every citizen of Orange County takes so much pride, was formally opened for the entertainment of guest Monday, the first meal being served at noon that day.
This magnificent realization is the outgrowth of town pride, the necessity for large and better hotel facilities and the firm belief that the efficacious and curative properties of our mineral waters, already grown famous, would soon make Paoli a haven much to be desired by those in search of health. The enterprise was talked of two years ago, but no active steps were taken at that time. The seed then sown, however, was destined to spring forth in full vigor a year later when a joint stock company, composed of John Maris, Amos Stout, Joseph P. Throop, Charles L. Boyd and Samuel R. Knox, was organized and determined work was commenced.
When the enterprise was first started, it is but proper to state, this superb structure, complete in every department and perfect in every appointment, was not designed. Something more modest and on a much smaller scale was intended and was deemed amply sufficient for all demands. But as the prospects brightened the enthusiasm grew until nothing short of a hotel as good as the best in Indiana would satisfy the enterprising company. The present complete, perfect structure is the result - a hotel of which any city in any state might well be proud and which is not surpassed anywhere in this country.
Five well known architects submitted plans. All were on the ground - most of them several times. The plans of S. P. Bonsack, of St. Louis, were finally adopted. The completed building shows the wisdom of the choice.
Much time and money was spent in selecting the heating and lighting machinery and many cities and plants were visited and inspected before the company settled those matters definitely. Those thing, and all others, were determined with great care and no pains or expense was spared to secure the very latest and the very best devices, machines, appliances, systems, etc., etc.
Of the minutiae it might be said that 600,000 bricks are in the wall, ten miles of water pipe, electric wires and stream pipe are used in the structure and 2,000 yards of carpet cover the floors. There are four floors and eighty rooms, each floor having its baths and toilets, each room being lighted by electricity, heated by steam and supplied with electric bells. There are 244 electric lights in the building, the company owning its own dynamo, engine and boiler. The culinary department is an especial boast, the kitchen being equipped in a superb manner by the Burton Range Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. Every piece of furniture, every machine, every article of every kind which has gone into the structure or which has been used in decorating or furnishing it, is absolutely new and of the best quality and design.
The management of the hotel will be under the watchful eye of Mr. Amos Stout, who is thoroughly equipped in that line. It was he who started the West Baden Springs on the road to fame and success. Mr. Stout will certainly make a "mine host". par excellence, and as he is ambitious to succeed, as well as enthusiastic in the work, superb qualities along with his well known business abilities, it goes without saying that the management will be all that could be desired. The chief clerk is Mr. Sherman Scott, a most agreeable gentleman and well suited to the position. Mrs. Sallie Baker Walker will be housekeeper - an admirable selection. The chief cook is Mr. Frank Bach, who comes here from the Dennison Hotel at Indianapolis, and bears gilt edge endorsements from the best hotels in the Central States. The pastry cook, Mr. Louis Moll, comes from the Fifth Avenue Hotel, of Louisville, and is an artist in his line. Richard Langley is the engineer and electrician and Elmore Sparks is the fireman - two clever gentlemen who take to their jobs as easy as a duck to water. Dr. Charles L. Boyd is the medical director. His high standing in the profession makes him a very valuable man in that position.
The health giving waters are unsurpassed, the management is superb, the building unexcelled, the environments admirable - everything combines to make the enterprise a splendid success.
The people of this community owe a great debt of gratitude to the enterprising, public spirited gentlemen whose money, preserverence and zeal have made such an acquisition possible, and the very least thing anyone can do to show a proper spirit of appreciation is to always be ready with a kind word and always wear a warm heart for the greatest success of the laudable enterprise.
The following analysis, made by W. A. Noyes, Ph. D., Professor of Chemistry in the Rose Polytechnic Institute, Terre Haute, one of the best authorities in the United States, show the component parts of the mineral water:

This analysis shows a combination, mixed in nature's great labratory, equal to any in the world. In addition to the properties which have made French Lick and West Baden Springs so justly famous for the cure of stomach, liver, kidney and skin disease, the Paoli Mineral Water has, as shown by the chemists test, quantities of lithia equal to the world renowned Buffalo Lithia Water, the best known remedy for Bright's disease.
Is is upon such claims as these that the Paoli Mineral Springs Hotel hopes to become the Mecca of the afflicted. And may the fondest hopes be more than realized.

The Mineral Springs Hotel opened its doors to the public in 1896 and stands today on the Square in Paoli. This photo, from a real photo postcard, dated June 10, 1909, depicts this hotel in its original, stand alone structure state. Today there are buildings abutting both sides of the building. The facade of the building has changed very little in the past 105 years. Built to compete with the spa hotels in French Lick and West Baden, the hotel never realized its hope of glory. But, unlike the dozens of Springs Valley Hotels, it survives today, where all but few of the Valley hotels have been razed and forgotten.