Saratoga Spa State Park District

About this property

Saratoga Spa State Park is a 2,379-acre (9.63 km2) state park located in Saratoga County, New York in the United States. The park is in the City of Saratoga Springs, near US 9 and NY 50. The grounds contain mineral springs, classical bath and spa houses, and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. The area, part of which became the park, drew interest from Mohawk and Iroquois Native American tribes for its hunting and mineral springs. The Native American name for the area was Kayaderosseras. The first recorded use of the springs was by Sir William Johnson during the French and Indian War, who was brought to Saratoga to recover from wounds. In the 19th century, the area became much visited for its purported medicinal effects. Entrepreneurs dug wells and bottled the mineral water for sale and gas companies sold the carbonation to soda fountains. In 1907, the stage was set to protect the springs in a lawsuit Frank Hathorn vs. Dr. Strong's Sanitarium, which showed that pumping on one well decreased the flow of water in wells across the city. The court certified the relationship between wells and when Dr. Strong stopped pumping, the flow of water in Mr. Hathorn's well resumed its natural flow. In 1908, as the springs were being depleted, the New York Assembly passed an injunction against pumping water; however the injunction was ignored. In 1909, governor Charles Evans Hughes signed into law a bill that made the springs of Saratoga a state reservation. In the 1930s, Reconstruction Finance Corporation funds were used to develop bath houses, research facilities and a drink hall. The Saratoga Reservation was designed with graded walkways intended to help rehabilitate those with heart conditions. After World War II veterans were welcomed as part of their readjustment and Holocaust survivors began using the baths as part of their healing process. The spa was named a state park in 1962. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987, for its natural and architectural features, and for its role as the subject of early conservation measures. In 2007, it was confirmed by state officials that the reportedly "pure" mineral water used in the public baths at the state park was actually mixed with tap water from a nearby source. Though the creek in the park is called Geyser Creek, Saratoga Springs area does not feature actual geysers. In Geysers, water is forced from underground by heat related to seismic activity. Instead, Saratoga's "spouters" spring up due to the pressure of pockets of carbonic gas trapped beneath deep layers of shale. The famous mineral springs arise from fissures in the Saratoga Fault, which runs 65 miles (105 km) from Whitehall to Albany. The carbonated water that vents in springs and geysers is rich in minerals and salts.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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