Saratoga Springs, New York, United States

🇺🇸 Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 200 years. It is home to the Saratoga Race Course, a thoroughbred horse racing track, and Saratoga Performing Arts Center, a music and dance venue. The city's official slogan is "Health, History, and Horses".

History The Mohawk Indigenous people used the area that is now Saratoga Springs as prime hunting ground, and some thought of the mineral springs as a gift from Manitou.

The British built Fort Saratoga in 1691 on the west bank of the Hudson River.

In the early part of the 1700s, settlers from Europe began to develop the area.

Shortly thereafter, British colonists settled the current village of Schuylerville approximately one mile south; it was known as Saratoga until 1831.

In 1767, William Johnson, a British soldier who was a hero of the French and Indian War, was brought by Native American friends to the spring to treat his war wounds. (In 1756, Johnson had been appointed British Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Northeast region due to his success in building alliances with the Mohawk and other Iroquois tribes. He had learned the language and created many trading relationships. He achieved great wealth from trading and landholdings, and was knighted for his service to the Crown with the Iroquois.)

The first permanent European-American settler built a dwelling in the area circa 1776. The springs attracted tourists, and Gideon Putnam built the first hotel for travelers. Putnam also laid out the roads and donated land for use as public spaces.

The Battle of Saratoga, the turning point of the Revolutionary War, did not take place in Saratoga Springs. Rather, the battlefield is 15 miles (24 km) to the south-east, in the Town of Stillwater. A museum dedicated to the two battles sits on the former battlefields. The British encampment before the surrender at Saratoga took place 10 miles (16 km) east of the city, in Schuylerville, where several historical markers delineate points of interest. The surrender of the sword of battle took place where Fort Saratoga had been, south of Schuylerville.

Saratoga Springs was established as a settlement in 1819 from a western portion of the Town of Saratoga. Its principal community was incorporated as a village in 1826, and the entire region became a city in 1915. Tourism was greatly aided by the 1832 arrival of the Saratoga and Schenectady Railroad, which brought thousands of travelers to the famous mineral springs. Resort hotels developed to accommodate them. Patronage of the railroad increased after the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company assumed control in 1870 and began running the Empire State Express directly between New York City and the resort.

In the 19th century, doctor Simon Baruch encouraged the development of European-style spas in the United States as centres for health. Due to the presence of mineral waters Saratoga Springs was developed as a spa, generating the development of several hotels, including the United States Hotel and the Grand Union Hotel. The latter was, in its day, the largest hotel in the world.

In 1863, Saratoga Race Course opened, moving to its current location the following year. Horse racing and its associated betting increased tourism at a time when horse racing was a popular national spectator sport. In addition, the Saratoga Springs area was known for its gambling, which after the first years of the 20th century was illegal, but still widespread. Most gambling facilities were located on Saratoga Lake, on the south-east side of the city.

By 1870, it was considered a top upscale resort relying on natural mineral springs, horse racing, gambling, and luxury hotels. World War II imposed travel restrictions which impacted the tourist industry. During the 1950s, the state and city closed the gambling houses in a crackdown on illegal gambling. The closing and demolition in the 1950s of some hotels, including the Grand Union and the United States hurt tourism.

The city became more accessible with the completion of the Adirondack Northway (Interstate 87), which allowed visitors easier access from the north and south. In addition, cultural resources such as classical and popular music and dance, flourished.

Mineral springs The mineral springs occur along the east side of the Saratoga Fault which allows water trapped in subsurface shale layers to reach the surface. The fault displacement can be seen on the east side of Broadway with the best view of the fault at the High Rock Park cliff.

The Mohawk Indigenous peoples who inhabited this area used the springs for several hundred years before the arrival of European settlers. Later drilling technology was employed by settlers to tap into the spring sources, and by 1900, 203 springs were flowing, some of which were tapped for carbon dioxide extraction, as well as mineral water. This proved to be unsustainable, and by 1908, New York State passed restrictions on use to allow the aquifer to recharge. As of 2019, there are only 17 productive springs.

Toward the end of the 19th century, excessive pumping for commercial bottling was threatening to deplete the springs. In 1911, the New York State Reservation, now the Spa State Park, was created to protect the springs, and the Lincoln and Roosevelt bath houses were built. Currently, visitors can soak in the mineral waters at the historic Roosevelt Bath house, which also provides spa treatments.

The water from the springs is high in mineral contents, inclucing iron, magnesium, calcium, lithium, iodine, chromium, sodium, zinc, barium, and with 9 of the springs reporting radium content.

Believed to have healing powers, springs can be found in multiple places around the town. Others, including scientists, dispute any medicinal properties from consuming the water due to the high levels of sodium and radium in some of the spring sources.

Most of the springs are covered by small pavilions and marked by plaques. Others are less conspicuous, sometimes just a spigot in a rock. The springs are famous for their varied and distinct tastes: some are clear freshwater, others are saltier, and some taste strongly of a certain mineral such as sodium bicarbonate or sodium chloride. There is a sulfurous odor, but mineral analysis of the water consistently shows almost no presence of dissolved sulfur. The sulfur is in the form of the gas hydrogen sulfide, which degasses from the water very quickly. Visitors are welcome to bottle the spring water for personal consumption.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 29.1 square miles (75 km²), of which 28.4 square miles (74 km²) is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²) (2.17%) is water.

The Adirondack Northway of New York (Interstate 87) and US Route 9 pass alongside and through the city, respectively. New York State Route 29, New York State Route 50, New York State Route 9N, and New York State Route 9P lead into Saratoga Springs. NY 9N has its southern terminus and NY 9P has its northern terminus in the city. US 9 and NY 50 overlap in the city, joined briefly by NY 29.

Saratoga Lake is slightly south of the city.

Economy Saratoga Springs acknowledges tourism as an industry during the warmer climate weather which becomes heightened around the season that the Saratoga Race Course becomes open to the general population.

The Saratoga Spring Water Co. (a division of Anheuser-Busch) is located on Geyser Road. Operating since 1872, this sparkling water has been served at multiple presidential inaugurations in Washington, D.C., including for Barack Obama's latest one in 2013.

Arts and culture The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) is a covered outdoor amphitheater located on the grounds of the Saratoga Spa State Park, with a capacity of 5,000 in reserved seating and 20,000+ on its general admission lawn area. SPAC is the summer home of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York City Ballet, and has hosted a weekend-long jazz festival since 1978. Since 2006, the Saratoga Native American Festival has been held on SPAC grounds each fall.

Museums in the area include the National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame, the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, the Tang Teaching Museum and the Saratoga Automobile Museum.The singer Don McLean was a frequent performer there early in his career.

Saratoga Springs is home to Yaddo, a 400-acre (1.62 km2; 0.63 sq mi) artists' community, founded by Wall Street financier Spencer Trask and his wife, author Katrina Trask. Since its inception in 1900, Yaddo has hosted 68 authors who later won the Pulitzer Prize and one Nobel Prize winner, Saul Bellow. Leonard Bernstein, Truman Capote, Aaron Copland, Sylvia Plath, and David Sedaris have all been artists-in-residence.

Over Presidents' Day weekend in February, Saratoga Springs draws more than 5000 attendees for the annual Flurry Festival, which features folk dance and music, including one of the largest contra dances in the United States.

Saratoga's New Year's celebration First Night Saratoga is the largest New Year's Eve event in New York outside of New York City.

Museums • The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College • Schick Art Gallery, Skidmore College • National Museum Of Dance And Hall Of Fame • National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame • New York State Military Museum And Veterans Research Center • Saratoga Automobile Museum • Saratoga Springs History Museum • Children's Museum of Saratoga • Saratoga Arts Center

Live performance • Theater – Home Made Theater- A not-for-profit theater company located in the Spa Little Theater of Saratoga Spa State Park; Saratoga Shakespeare Company - the capital region's only professional classical theater company, established 2001 • Ballet – New York City Ballet at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga City Ballet • Opera – Opera Saratoga • Music – Caffe Lena, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Music Hall, Universal Preservation Hall

National Register of Historic Places Saratoga Springs has sixteen places listed in the National Register of Historic Places: • Arrowhead Casino Prehistoric Site • Broadway Historic District • Canfield Casino and Congress Park • The Drinkhall • East Side Historic District • Franklin Square Historic District • Gideon Putnam Burying Ground • Petrified Sea Gardens • Pure Oil Gas Station • Saratoga Gas, Electric Light and Power Company Complex • Saratoga Spa State Park District • Hiram Charles Todd House • Union Avenue Historic District • US Post Office-Saratoga Springs • West Side Historic District • Yaddo

Thoroughbred racing Saratoga Race Course opened on August 3, 1863. The first track was located on East Avenue (at the present Oklahoma Training Track location) which is perpendicular to the present Saratoga Race Course, which opened the following year, founded by John Hunter and William R. Travers.

Skateboard Park The Saratoga Skatepark (est. 1988), located in the centre of the East Side Recreation area on Lake Avenue, is New York State's first municipal skatepark. It includes a concrete skateboard "bowl" and metal ramps. In 2010 the city filled the pool with dirt, citing problems with graffiti, vandalism and unconfirmed structural issues affecting the skating surface. In addition, the city said that they lacked funds to staff guards at the park and claimed it had spent nearly $200,000 on the park since it opened in 1988. After a group of skateboarders lobbied the city and publicly offered to dig out the pool by hand, the city excavated it in November 2011.

Government The Saratoga Springs charter specifies a "commission" form of city government. Recent efforts to amend the charter have not been successful. The most recent charter change proposal appeared on the ballot in the November 2020 election and was overwhelmingly defeated. Prior attempts have netted mixed results with the closest margin of votes in 2017 where a difference of 10 votes upheld the current system of government.

Education Empire State College and Skidmore College are both located in Saratoga Springs; Verrazzano College (1969–1975) was also located there. During the summer, Skidmore is one of several hosts for the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. Eastern Nazarene College, located in Quincy, Massachusetts, was founded in Saratoga Springs as the Pentecostal Collegiate Institute and Biblical Seminary at the turn of the 20th century.

The Saratoga Springs City School District is made up of: • Six elementary schools (kindergarten through grade five) – Lake Avenue, Caroline Street, Division Street and Geyser Road in the City of Saratoga Springs; Greenfield in the Town of Greenfield; and Dorothy Nolan in the Town of Wilton • One middle school (grades six through eight) – Maple Avenue Middle School in the Town of Wilton • One high school (grades nine through twelve) – Saratoga Springs High School located on the West side on Blue Streak Boulevard in the City of Saratoga Springs.

Private schools in Saratoga Springs include Saratoga Central Catholic High School, St. Clement's Regional Catholic School, The Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs, and Saratoga Independent School. Alternatively, some local children commute to Albany area schools such as The Emma Willard School, The Albany Academies, Doane Stuart School and La Salle Institute.

Media • Grid (formerly Saratoga Wire) daily online newspaper • The Saratogian newspaper (daily) • Saratoga TODAY newspaper (weekly) • Saratoga Business Journal newspaper (bi-weekly) • The Spotlight newspaper (weekly) • Eco Local magazine (monthly) • Saratoga Seasons magazine • Saratoga Living magazine (quarterly) • Simply Saratoga magazine (by-monthly) • The Skidmore News • Skidmore Unofficial • Saratoga.com • Saratogabusiness.net • Look TV television station

Transport A general aviation facility, Saratoga County Airport, is located west of the city in Milton.

Amtrak provides daily rail service to Saratoga Springs, operating the Adirondack between Montreal and New York City, and the Ethan Allen Express between Rutland, Vermont, and New York City.

Bus service includes Greyhound Bus Lines, Adirondack Trailways, Capital District Transportation Authority, and Megabus.

Interstate 87 passes trough the city.