Larry Bird, Joe Louis and the legends of French Lick, West Baden

FRENCH LICK — Larry Bird.

That’s usually how every sentence starts when describing the town of French Lick, near the Hoosier National Forest and nearby West Baden, Indiana.

The two towns were once bitter rivals in high school basketball, becoming the playground for famed figures both beloved and dubious through the 1900s and into the 1950s.

But there’s more to the area than just “The hick from French Lick.” World Series champions once did spring training in the two towns. A heavyweight icon used West Baden Springs to train. Feared mobsters like Big Jim Colosimo who ran the Chicago Outfit got married at West Baden Springs. Al Capone was rumored to have frequented West Baden and French Lick as a way to escape the attention of life in bustling Chicago.

French Lick and West Baden aren’t just towns. They are iconic dual cities that sit next to each other, blending the past and present through sports.

Larry Bird and his high school, Springs Valley, share a rich history with iconic individuals and teams that perhaps the average sports fan doesn’t know about. It’s time to unlock the history of the past and uncover the truth behind the sports icons of French Lick and West Baden.

The pilgrimage to Springs Valley and shrine of Larry Bird

Springs Valley High School athletic director Jerry Chaney has learned quickly that his job isn’t just to make sure high school sports function through every season.

Chaney recalled the voice he heard. A person with a thick New England accent that was begging for entry to see the inside of Springs Valley High School, the school Bird attended before his Hall of Fame career for Indiana State University and the NBA’s Boston Celtics.

“I give out 20 tours a year,” Chaney said. “People want to know about Larry Bird. It’s one of the neatest things I do whenever people come in from Boston, to North Dakota to California … they want to know about Larry and his accomplishments.”

This wasn’t the first time that a random stranger just walked up to the entry of the main office.

“The guy had literally driven all the way here from Boston,” Chaney said. “He had the thickest accent I had ever heard, and he thanked us for letting him see the inside. Bird fans, they’re true diehards.”

Chaney idolized Bird himself having grown up in Bedford, located 28 miles northeast of French Lick.

“My dad used to let me stay up past 10-10:30 to watch the delayed broadcasts of the Boston Celtics games,” Chaney said.

Inside the gym are Bird’s No. 33 jerseys that hang in the rafters from his career as a member of the Boston Celtics, Team USA, Indiana State, Indiana All-Star and Springs Valley.

Walk around and there are pictures of not only Larry, but of his older brother Mark and younger brother Eddie, the latter who was also an Indiana All-Star and played at Indiana State from 1987-1991.

There’s a trophy case, as well as the classic steeples and seating around Springs Valley.

Chaney is unbothered by the pilgrimage that fans of Bird make. He is a gracious host and sees his job as unofficial chauffer and historian as a way of preserving and celebrating the history of French Lick.

“Whenever I go to conferences and people ask me where I work, I tell them Springs Valley,” Chaney said. “When they say they don’t know where that is, I tell them it’s Larry Bird’s school. And that’s when the questions roll in.”

MLB teams head to French Lick and West Baden for spring training

In the decades before Arizona and Florida facilities were used to host MLB spring training, those teams headed to West Baden to train.

Both hotels in town were used and contained outdoor space for players to practice all the essential skills needed before beginning the 162-game season.

Most notable among the 12 professional teams that trained at West Baden were the Chicago Cubs 1907 and 1908 World Series teams led by Hall of Fame infielders Frank Chance, Johnny Evers, Joe Tinker and pitcher Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown. Brown was a longtime Indiana resident born in Nyesville in Parke County.

Joined by the Cubs to become temporary residents between 1897-1912 were the Boston Braves (known as the Doves), Boston Red Sox (then known as the Americans), Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians (then known as the Spiders), Detroit Tigers, Louisville Colonels, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Browns and St. Louis Cardinals.

West Baden Springs hosts prime Joe Louis

Another legend was punching his way through history 19 years before Bird was born.

Heavyweight boxing legend Joe Louis trained out of the West Baden Springs Hotel between 1937-1949, preparing for the greatest prize fights of the time.

Louis won his first heavyweight title by knocking down the “Cinderella Man” James J. Braddock in 1937. While training out of West Baden, Louis would deliver the most iconic knockout of the time by defeating Germany native Max Schmeling on June 22, 1938, at Yankee Stadium.

“The Brown Bomber” still holds the record with 25 title defenses between 1937-49.

Despite his fame, success and being a beloved character in both West Baden and French Lick, segregation towards African Americans forbid Louis from taking up residency at the West Baden Hotel.

Instead, Louis took up residency at the Waddy Hotel located near the luxury hotel. Louis trained by lifting metal and pulling train cars from the Monon Line.

French Lick West Baden Museum historian Kenton Allbright shared details and insight on Louis.

“We were not a Jim Crow community, but it was expected at a luxury hotel to be segregated,” Allbright said.

Along with boxing, Louis became a pioneer in golf after learning to play in 1935, according to PGA archives.

Louis fought segregation in golf by becoming the first African American to compete in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event when he played the San Diego Open in 1952. Charlie Sifford became the first African American to earn his PGA Tour card in 1961, with golf becoming the last major American sport to desegregate.

His legacy of pushing for inclusion in sports continued through his son Joe Louis Barrow Jr., who served as CEO for The First Tee for 18 years.

It was West Baden Springs and French Lick that served as Louis’ setting to become a renowned figure.

Former Springs Valley basketball coach Rex Wells, now 94 years old, recalled befriending Louis. Louis was active among the youth and took time to play in pickup baseball and fastpitch softball games during the summer.

“Joe was just happy and he loved to play,” Wells said. “He was a humble guy but always very personable to us kids.”

NOTE: This story is part of a special “America 250” project on the history of Indiana high school basketball by journalists within USA Today Co. at the South Bend Tribune, Journal & Courier (Lafayette), The Star Press (Muncie), The Herald-Times (Bloomington) and The Courier & Press (Evansville). All stories will run on those respective sites between July 6-17, with select stories in printed copies of the paper as well.

Ethan Hanson was a sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette.