The Now-Abandoned Resort In Indiana With Tragic Ties To Celebrities And Mysterious Fires
By Tori Jane|Published June 21, 2023
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Tori Jane
Author
Tori Jane is a storm chaser, writer, photographer, and the village idiot - in that order. When she's not out and about dancing with the meanest storms on planet Earth for funsies she can be found wandering, shooting landscapes, writing, editing photos, and otherwise up to no good. Legend has it that she can also be occasionally spotted typing up short bios in the third person, but those rumors are unsubstantiated.
Fun fact: Indiana has a nice, long history of innovation and entrepreneurship, and it’s probably true that we wouldn’t be the amazing little state we are today if it weren’t for the brilliance of Hoosiers past (and present). There have been all sorts of awesome things invented in Indiana, and some of the cleverest businessmen the nation has ever seen have called this state home. For example, let’s take a ride on the way-back machine and check out a little old place called the Hotel Mudlavia (or just “Mudlavia”, for short). Over the next several decades, the resort – which now decays by itself in the woods somewhere in Warren County – would see numerous guests (including celebrities and outlaws) as well as a series of unlikely and mysterious fires (as well as rumors of bodies found on the premises) that would ultimately force it to give up the ghost.
Kramer, Indiana is not actually an official town, although it IS the name of the place in Warren County where Mudlavia once dominated the local economy.
The land, and the spring contained on said land, was never anything overly special until the discovery of said spring in 1884.
The story goes that a man (whose last name was, ironically, Story) suffering from rheumatoid arthritis discovered that his symptoms waned gradually the longer he worked in the mud produced by the spring.
Upon hearing about this seemingly magic healing spring in 1890, another man - this time a 29-year-old entrepreneur - got some investors together and started a health resort based around the spring. The resort offered all kinds of "treatments" for all sorts of ailments.
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From arthritis to asthma and constipation, the belief at the time (based entirely on Story's story and the swearing up-and-down of subsequent guests, many of whom returned often) was that the waters of the spring had healing powers.
Popular offerings included mud massages and mud baths made of the same spring-water mud that was said to have cured Story's ailments. Numerous celebrities would frequent the place, including champion boxer John L. Sullivan, writer James Whitcomb Riley, and even - allegedly - John Dillinger and Al Capone.
But it was not to last. In 1920, a fire started in a linen closet (somehow) and burned the entire hotel to the ground. Hundreds were injured. Many barely escaped with their lives.
The hotel was rebuilt in the same place despite previous employees swearing it had to be cursed. And perhaps they were right: the hotel burned down again in 1974. To burn down once is bad luck - to burn down twice is a bit too alarming a coincidence. Locals began whispering that the grounds were definitely cursed now.
It is even said that there were, in fact, bodies found thrown in wells on the grounds following the fires. Whether Dillinger, Capone, or someone else was responsible, we'll never know - but the property will always remember.
Nothing was ever rebuilt following the second fire. What remained of the hotel was left to decay, and much of its roof has collapsed. It is not safe to enter or explore, and you don't want to get tagged for trespassing - so just do yourself a favor and admire this one from afar.
What happened here? Could the grounds possibly be cursed?
If so... by whom? And for what? All we know now is that the spring is privately-owned - and Mudlavia is little more than a little bit of brick, mortar, and memories.
If you’re interested in urban exploration in Indiana and are fascinated by the story of Mudlavia, you might want to consider checking out the dying city of Gary, Indiana, which is home to more than 30,000 abandoned buildings.
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