Karens Road

This weekend was amazing. We toured the West Baden Hotel in French Lick, Indiana. This hotel was ahead of it’s time with all the hand set mosaic tile and it’s dome ceiling. It had gone into disrepair and was in shambles. The renovation is astounding. I will post pictures when I have completed my study on the history of the renovation.

I have always been interested in the West Baden Hotel because it was owned by Ed Ballard who had ties to Peru, Indiana, where I live. West Baden was host to the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, which was owned by Valley multi-millionaire, Ed Ballard, during the time period of 1915 to about 1929. Ed Ballard purchased the circus from Benjamin Wallace. Wallace wintered the circus in Peru, Indiana. The building in Peru, Indiana that formerly housed the winter home of Hagenbeck-Wallace now serves as the home of the Circus Hall of Fame.

As a note of interest, Ballard turned the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus into the largest circus in the country and possibly the world. Larger than their contemporary competitors – Barnum’s or the Ringling Brothers Circuses. Ed’s son Chad, settled in Peru, Indiana and as a floor covering retailer, my husband worked in Chad’s stately home.

Ed Ballard also owned the Sells Floto Circus and the Grand Hotel on Macinac Island, MI. At the time of his death his wealth was estimated at thirty million to one hundred million dollars. He was shot to death by a disgruntled former partner in Hot Springs, AR.

* Joe Skelton, the father of Red Skelton, once worked as a clown in the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus. Red, himself, performed with the same circus as a teenager before entering vaudeville.

* Emmett Kelly got his start as “Weary Willie” during the Great Depression with Hagenbeck-Wallace before moving on to other circuses.