056 Discover Saratoga Springs NY - Health, History & Horses

Discover New York Towns & Villages

Some communities grow because of a river.

Others develop around agriculture, industry, transportation or natural resources.

Saratoga Springs grew around something coming directly out of the ground:

Water.

Natural mineral springs attracted people to this part of eastern New York long before grand hotels, thoroughbred racing and elegant Victorian buildings made Saratoga Springs one of America's most famous resort communities.

Today, the city's story can be summarized by three words:

Health. History. Horses.

But behind those three words is a fascinating story involving geology, Native American history, changing ideas about health, tourism, architecture, gambling, horse racing, conservation and the arts.

Start Beneath the Ground

To understand Saratoga Springs, begin underground.

The area's famous mineral springs are connected to fractures and faults in the underlying rock that allow mineral-rich, naturally carbonated water to rise toward the surface.

As the water moves through rock deep underground, it dissolves minerals along the way.

When it reaches the surface, each spring can have a somewhat different mineral composition and taste.

Some are surprisingly salty.

Some contain noticeable carbonation.

Others have strong mineral flavors that can surprise someone expecting ordinary spring water.

The geology beneath Saratoga helped create the city above it.

The Springs Were Known Long Before the City

Native peoples knew and used the mineral springs long before European-American settlement developed around them.

The waters became associated with health and healing.

As European settlers learned about the springs, their reputation spread.

By the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, visitors were traveling specifically to experience the mineral waters.

That created an unusual foundation for a community.

People weren't necessarily coming because they needed to pass through Saratoga.

They were coming because they wanted to be there.

Taking the Waters

During the nineteenth century, mineral springs became increasingly popular health destinations throughout Europe and the United States.

People traveled to spas where they drank mineral water, bathed in it, exercised, rested and socialized.

Saratoga became one of America's best-known destinations for this practice.

Doctors and promoters attributed a remarkable number of health benefits to the waters.

Many of those historical medical claims would not meet modern scientific standards, but their influence on tourism was enormous.

Visitors arrived to “take the waters.”

And Saratoga Springs began transforming into a resort.

The Queen of Spas

By the nineteenth century, Saratoga had become known as the “Queen of Spas.”

Hotels, bathhouses, restaurants and businesses developed to serve growing numbers of visitors.

The community became particularly popular with wealthy travelers seeking an escape from cities during the summer.

For some visitors, health may have provided the reason for coming.

But once they arrived, there was plenty more to do.

Dining.

Shopping.

Music.

Dancing.

Socializing.

Gambling.

And eventually, horse racing.

The Grand Hotels

Saratoga Springs became famous for enormous resort hotels.

During the height of the resort era, establishments such as the Grand Union Hotel and United States Hotel accommodated huge numbers of summer visitors.

These were not simply places to sleep.

They were destinations themselves.

Guests gathered on broad porches, attended dinners and dances, met friends and participated in the elaborate social life of a nineteenth-century resort town.

Imagine arriving by train during the height of summer and finding streets filled with visitors, carriages, fashionable clothing and enormous hotels.

Saratoga had become a place to see — and to be seen.

Then Came the Horses

In 1863, during the Civil War, John Morrissey organized a four-day thoroughbred racing meet in Saratoga.

It was a success.

Thousands of spectators attended.

The following year, a permanent race course opened at the site associated with today's Saratoga Race Course.

Horse racing soon became inseparable from Saratoga's summer identity.

The Travers Stakes

In 1864, Saratoga held the first Travers Stakes.

Named for William R. Travers, one of the founders of the Saratoga Racing Association, the race became one of the great traditions of American thoroughbred racing.

Generations of famous horses, trainers and jockeys have competed at Saratoga.

The race course itself became something unusual:

A historic sporting venue that continued doing essentially what it had been built to do.

The Graveyard of Champions

Saratoga also developed a reputation for surprises.

Some of racing's greatest horses have been defeated there.

In 1919, the legendary Man o' War suffered the only defeat of his career at Saratoga.

His opponent was a horse named Upset.

In 1930, the great Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox was defeated at Saratoga by the 100-to-1 longshot Jim Dandy.

Unexpected results like these helped give Saratoga its famous nickname:

“The Graveyard of Champions.”

Look at the Architecture

When visiting Saratoga Springs, don't concentrate only on the race course and mineral springs.

Look at the buildings.

The prosperity of the resort era left behind an extraordinary collection of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century architecture.

Look for elaborate porches, towers, brackets, decorative woodwork, brick commercial buildings and large homes built during the city's prosperous resort years.

Many buildings reflect the Victorian-era idea that architecture itself could create an experience.

That makes Saratoga Springs an excellent community to explore on foot.

As with Rhinebeck and Corning, remember:

Look up.

Some of the most interesting architectural details are above the modern storefronts.

The Springs Were Almost Lost

Success eventually threatened the very resource that had created Saratoga Springs.

By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, commercial companies were extracting large quantities of naturally occurring carbon dioxide from the mineral waters.

Excessive pumping reduced the flow of some springs and threatened others.

New York State stepped in.

In the early twentieth century, the state began acquiring and protecting the springs and surrounding property.

That effort eventually helped create what we know today as Saratoga Spa State Park.

It is an excellent example of conservation protecting not just a natural resource, but part of a community's identity.

Saratoga Spa State Park

Today, Saratoga Spa State Park preserves an unusual combination of natural, recreational, architectural and cultural resources.

Visitors can still encounter mineral springs and experience mineral baths.

The park also contains impressive historic buildings constructed during the development of the state spa complex.

But the park eventually became home to something else:

The performing arts.

SPAC and a New Era

The Saratoga Performing Arts Center, commonly known as SPAC, opened in 1966.

It brought another dimension to Saratoga's identity.

Music, dance and major performances became part of the city's summer tradition alongside mineral springs and horse racing.

Once again, Saratoga adapted while retaining connections to its past.

A nineteenth-century health resort had become a twentieth- and twenty-first-century cultural destination.

But What About the Battles of Saratoga?

The name Saratoga is also associated with one of the most important events of the American Revolution.

In 1777, American and British forces fought the Battles of Saratoga.

The eventual British surrender became a turning point in the Revolutionary War and helped encourage France to support the American cause.

But there is an important geographic distinction.

The famous battles were not fought in today's City of Saratoga Springs.

The principal battlefield is farther south, near Stillwater, and is preserved as part of Saratoga National Historical Park.

The broader Saratoga region contains many interconnected stories, but understanding exactly where events occurred helps us understand them better.

What to Notice When You Visit Saratoga Springs

Begin with the water.

Find one of the mineral springs and taste it where public drinking is permitted.

Don't expect ordinary water.

Think about the geology beneath your feet and the long journey that water took through layers of rock before reaching the surface.

Then imagine nineteenth-century visitors arriving because they believed that same water could improve their health.

Walk through downtown.

Look above the storefronts at the architecture.

Imagine the grand hotels, crowded porches and visitors arriving by train for the summer season.

Visit Saratoga Race Course and look beyond the horses.

Study the grandstand and grounds and think about generations of spectators gathering there since the Civil War era.

Then explore Saratoga Spa State Park.

Notice how geology, health, architecture, recreation and culture all occupy the same landscape.

And if you visit the Revolutionary War battlefield, remember that you have left Saratoga Springs and traveled farther south into another important part of the larger Saratoga story.

Health, History and Horses

Few community mottos summarize a place as effectively as Saratoga Springs:

Health. History. Horses.

The mineral springs brought visitors.

The visitors created a resort economy.

The resort atmosphere helped support entertainment and racing.

Prosperity produced remarkable architecture.

Conservation saved the springs.

And new cultural institutions helped the community continue evolving.

Each layer grew from the ones that came before it.

Every Town Has a Story

Saratoga Springs demonstrates why this series isn't simply about visiting attractions.

It is about understanding why a community developed where it did and how one generation built upon another.

In Saratoga Springs, you can begin with a drop of mineral water emerging from the ground and follow its influence through more than two centuries of tourism, architecture, recreation and culture.

The next time you visit Saratoga Springs, don't simply ask what there is to do.

Ask why all of it is there.

The answer begins beneath your feet.

Discover New York Towns & Villages

This article is part of the Discover New York Towns & Villages series from Zehr Discover NYS. Together we'll explore communities across New York State and discover the geography, history, architecture, industries, transportation and people that helped make each place unique.

Learn the place. Explore the story. Discover New York.