Big Bone Lick’s Medicinal Popularity
Although the salt production ventures failed, it was determined that Big Bone Lick was beneficial for medicinal reasons as well. During his Big Bone excavations, William Clark noticed that local farm animals flocked to the Lick to drink the mineral water from the springs. Later, physician Daniel Drake noted that the 57-degree waters “afford a great quantity of sulphurated hydrogen gas” which could be used to heal illnesses. He recommended drinking one pint to one gallon of the mineral water daily (Hedeen 2008:14-15).
Henry Clay Hotel
To capitalize on the newfound popularity of the Lick for curative purposes, an inn opened in 1815 called the Henry Clay Hotel. Named after famous Kentucky statesman Henry Clay, it was built west of the springs along an old road that led to Louisville to the southwest. It quickly became known as one of the “best health resorts and watering places west of the
Allegheny Mountains” (Layne 1987).
John Wingate, a hotel keeper from Butler County, Ohio and a Brigadier General from the War of 1812 relocated to Big Bone in 1816 where he “kept a house of entertainment” presumably, the Clay Hotel. Along with the hotel, a veranda was built to the northeast overlooking the valley. A row of bathhouses was also built across the road and bordered the creek with its marshy springs. Summer houses and accommodations for servants, horses, and carriages were built northeast of the hotel. A large pavilion was located near the main street of Big Bone where visitors spent the evening playing music, dancing, and engaging in revelry (Butler County 1882:290; Layne 1987; Yealey 1960:28; Jillson 1936:96; Edwards 2018d).
Wealthy families traveled to Big Bone Lick, often spending entire summers there. Those with means, along with visitors from Indiana and Ohio arrived by boat, landing at the nearby docks at Hamilton Landing along the Ohio River. The river town prospered in the nineteenth century due to its proximity to Big Bone, boasting a mill, warehouses, general store, school, and doctors’ offices (Yealey 1960:28; Layne 1987; Striker 2010:107).
Carriages and wagons arrived inland by a north-south road later known as the Lexington-Covington toll pike (now the Dixie Highway). After passing Union between Florence and Walton, the road split to the west to enter the valley surrounding Big Bone (Yealey 1960:28; Cincinnati Enquirer 1935:72; Layne 1987; Jillson 1936:94-95).
In 1821, C.S. Rafinesque, a professor of historical and natural sciences visited Big Bone for exploratory purposes and noted his findings in the Monthly Journal of Geology and Natural Science. While there, he stayed at the hotel noting its ample accommodations, but also that the owner at the time voiced disapproval of excavations that could damage the springs (Figure 3-5) (Monthly American 1832:356).
Figure 3-5. Reproduction of William Cooper’s 1831 map (Jillson 1936:103).
The Henry Clay Hotel operated for approximately 30 years and entertained families of local prominence including the Clays, Breckinridges, and Marshalls. Other distinguished patrons included planter families from the south. The sulphur-saline spring water attracted those “to loiter, drink, bathe, and kill the game.” Some patrons used Big Bone as a political headquarters. Leonard Stephens, the first Sheriff of Kenton County, used the Clay Hotel as a rendezvous for political allies to draft strategies for northern Kentucky politics (Yealey 1960:29; Jillson 1936:94; Coleman 1955:61–64; Edwards 2018d).
In addition to the popularity of the secluded retreat, water from the springs was also bottled for sale. Advertisements promoted its therapeutic effects (Figure 3-6) (Cincinnati Enquirer 1935:72; Layne 1987; Jillson 1936:94-95).
Figure 3-6. Newspaper advertisement in a 1904
edition of Maysville Public Ledger promoting
benefits of Big Bone Lick mineral water. Courtesy of
Boone County Public Library.
A fire destroyed the original hotel in the mid-1840s and the area was deserted by 1847. In his Historical Sketches, Judge Lewis Collins of Maysville noted that while the springs were heavily visited for medicinal benefits, by 1847, no accommodations for visitors were available (Jillson 1936:96).
Big Bone Springs Resort/Big Bone Hotel
A new hotel, the Big Bone Springs Resort, was built north of the Lick sometime before the Civil War along the road towards Cincinnati (Figure 3-7). The new hotel was a two-story, U-shaped, white-frame building constructed on the hillside opposite of where the Big Bone Methodist Church now stands (Hedeen 2008:16–17; Edwards 2018d; Coleman 1955: 61–64).
Figure 3-7. Hotel at Big Bone Lick. Courtesy of
Boone County Public Library.
Attendance to Big Bone declined during the Civil War, but a bath house near the springs was operated by Squire Lucas and Thomas Coombs, cousins from Williamstown (Figure 3-8). Following the war, Lucas and Coombs refurnished and opened the Big Bone Springs Resort. Advertisements in several local newspapers as open for guests and that “no place in the entire country can excel these springs for accommodations and comfort of its guests” (Hedeen 2008:16-17; Cincinnati Enquirer 1866:2; Coleman 1955: 61–64).
Figure 3-8. 1899 Photo of Bath House at Big Bone
Lick. Courtesy of Boone County Public Library.
In 1864, wholesale grocer, and auctioneer from Cincinnati, Charles Alfred McLaughlin (Figure 3-9), bought land encompassing Big Bone Lick in order to spend summers there. A Cincinnati professor offered McLaughlin three cents a square foot to dig on his property in 1865, but McLaughlin passed on the deal. Cambridge professor Nathaniel Shaler in 1866 also visited McLaughlin’s property and succeeded in excavating a collection of bones (The Courier-Journal 1899:28).
Figure 3-9. Photo of Charles McLaughlin from
1899 Louisville Courier-Journal about Big Bone
Lick. Courtesy of Boone County Public Library.
His grandson, also Charles McLaughlin, later detailed the salt baths available to patrons of the hotel as “wood and large enough for a child to swim in.” A six-foot brick beehive reservoir was placed over the spring with wooden pipes transporting water the baths. Another pipe was diverted for drinking use. McLaughlin also noted that the water was beneficial for medical ailments “from rheumatism to kinks in the hair” (Cincinnati Enquirer 1935: 72).
During McLaughlin’s ownership, numerous proprietors managed the operations of the hotel. An 1866 advertisement of the renovated hotel promoted the repaired and updated sleeping rooms and bathhouse operated by Lucas and Coombs (Cincinnati Enquirer 1866:2).
By 1869, the hotel was managed by J.E. Downtain, formerly of Cincinnati. A newspaper article from that time noted the change of proprietors and that the change occurred with new updates to both the interior and exterior of the hotel (Cincinnati Enquirer 1869:5; Cincinnati Enquirer 1869:3).
After management of the hotel transferred to W.R. McLaughlin in 1873, Colonel John O. Campbell took over its management in 1876. Campbell, who moved with his son from Burlington to Big Bone, distributed posters and advertisements promoting the area as one of the best medicinal springs in the country. Steamboat excursions from nearby Cincinnati allowed visitors to experience the sulphur springs for 50 cents, round trip. From Cincinnati, the steamboat made stops at Lawrenceburg, Aurora, and Rising Sun before docking at Hamilton Landing. Campbell picked up his guests in omnibuses to take them 1.5 miles inland to the hotel (Memphis Daily Appeal 1873; Cincinnati Daily Star 1876).
