FRENCH LICK, Ind. – Decades ago, this town in southern Indiana’s hill country was the playground of rich and privileged travelers who lounged in mineral springs by day and gambled the nights away.

Gambling and prostitution flourished for nearly a half-century thanks to the influence of well-connected hotel owners and politicians, and police who turned a blind eye. During its heyday in the 1920s, the area had as many as 17 casinos.

Today, there is no shortage of hard-luck stories in French Lick. And there is a fervent hope that it will be saved not by industry but by an old friend: gambling.

A casino with slot machines, blackjack and poker is seen as a way for the town to resurrect past glory and distinguish itself as more than just the hometown of basketball legend Larry Bird.

Gambling “brought this place to life, and that’s probably what’s going to save it,” said Dan Floyd of Newcastle, Ontario, whose family has vacationed in French Lick for five years in a row.

French Lick is one of many rural towns across the country that consider casinos their best economic option as business and industry – and many of their own residents – shift to big cities. Casinos have opened in recent years in towns such as La Grange, Mo., Tunica, Miss., and Rising Sun, Ind., all little more than dots on a map.

For 11 years, Orange County, Ind., has lobbied the Legislature for a casino, each session ferrying busloads of orange-shirted boosters a hundred miles north to the Statehouse in Indianapolis. For just as many years, the proposal has been defeated, but another bill has been introduced this year.

Empty sidewalks and storefronts line the streets of downtown French Lick. The West Baden Springs Hotel, dubbed “The Eighth Wonder of the World” when it opened in 1902, needs extensive renovation. Orange County’s unemployment rate is nearly 9 percent – worst among Indiana’s 92 counties.

In the first half of the 20th century, French Lick and neighboring West Baden Springs were regular vacation haunts for U.S. presidents and Hollywood stars. Four major league baseball teams came to the towns for spring training.

“On Saturday nights, it was so crowded you could hardly walk up and down the sidewalks,” Flick recalled. “This was strictly for millionaires who used to come down. We little snot-nosed kids would watch them come by in their furs and go past into the casinos.”

The illegal gambling ended in 1949 when Gov. Henry F. Schricker ordered state police to crack down.

Things are much quieter now. The French Lick Springs Resort & Spa – one of the area’s two 500-room hotels built a century ago – was nearly empty one recent day.

The hotels’ problems are a symptom of the economic ills in Orange County, where about 1,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in the past two years. Tourists bypass the area in favor of flashy new casinos an hour’s drive south on the Ohio River.

Proponents believe a new casino would draw enough business to support shops and restaurants along a proposed promenade between the two hotels. Some even want to create a museum honoring Bird, who starred at Indiana State and helped the Boston Celtics win three National Basketball Association titles.