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Philip Spiess
And now for something completely different (and why not?): not a Cincinnati story, but the:
SARATOGA STORY:
A Saga of Springs, Spas, Sport, Spuds, Spirits -- and Con-Spiracy!
[in Three Parts]
PART I: Springs and Spas
Springs: We begin with Gas! Aha! you thought water? This essay, focusing on springs, implies Water, but this portion starts with Gas, which suggests something different. Not to worry – the two are compatible here, for the water underground at Saratoga Springs, New York, resulting in numerous above-ground springs of various chemical qualities, often produced carbonic acid gas. But I anticipate my story.
There were numerous significant mineral springs in the area of North America which became the United States, and the early settlers, quick to follow the Native Americans on their discovery and use of these springs, were eager to take advantage of the commercial possibilities of such sites. Berkeley Springs, West Virginia (originally Virginia) was perhaps the first to be exploited by the European settlers; Saratoga Springs, the focus of this essay, was also developed early on. In 1832 the federal government created Hot Springs, Arkansas, as the first federal reserve (predating the creation of our national parks); it was followed a good bit later by the commercial spas of Sharon Springs in upstate New York and White Sulfur Springs in West Virginia. French Lick and West Baden, Indiana, hit their stride around the turn of the 20th century, and Warm Springs, Georgia, became nationally famous due its use by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. But this is the story of Saratoga Springs, New York.
The natural mineral springs at Saratoga were first investigated and protected by the Native Americans who inhabited the area, the Mohawks, a tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy; they recognized the springs as having healing powers, and therefore sacred. The first permanent European-American settlement was built here circa 1776, the springs attracting tourists, Gideon Putnam building the first hotel for travelers (1789) and laying out roads and donating land for use as public spaces.
In 1777 the two American Revolutionary War battles of Saratoga took place fifteen miles to the southeast [see Part III], and in 1819 Saratoga Springs was established as a separate settlement from the western portion of the Town of Saratoga. Its principal community was incorporated as a village in 1826, and by 1832 the Saratoga & Schenectady Railroad was bringing thousands of tourists to the mineral springs.
These famous springs occur on a line where the north-south Saratoga Fault allows water trapped in subsurface shale layers to reach the surface. These waters are known for their varied and distinct tastes: some are clear freshwater, others are saltier, and some taste strongly of, say, sodium bicarbonate or sodium chloride [we tasted them all, and they are indeed different]. Sometimes there is a sulfurous odor, but analysis has shown almost no presence of dissolved sulfur; rather, it is in the form of the gas hydrogen sulfide, which quickly separates from the water. Visitors to the park are welcome to bottle the spring water for personal consumption (and they do!).
However, by 1880 private industry had discovered that carbonic acid gas could be extracted from the springs’ waters, and over 200 wells were soon in operation for this purpose. Why, you may ask? – this gas was used to carbonate the popular soda fountains of the period (a boon to the burgeoning temperance movement). Toward the end of the 19th century, excessive pumping of the mineral waters for commercial bottling was threatening to deplete the springs, and so in 1911 the New York State Reservation, now the Saratoga Spa State Park [see more below], was created to protect the springs. There are currently 21 public mineral springs located throughout Saratoga; most of these springs are naturally carbonated.
Victorian Spa Resort: In the middle of the 19th century, Saratoga Springs, New York, came into its own: a morning departure and an eighteen-hour overnight cruise on a Hudson River steamboat from New York City brought you to Saratoga; once there, impressive Victorian hotels [real wooden firetraps!] built to accommodate visitors to both the spas at the springs [see above] and the nationally significant racecourse [see below] greeted one; one such hotel, the Grand Union Hotel, was, at the time, the largest hotel in the world. As a result, the center of the town was developed into a grand gardens concourse known as Congress Park. At the peak of its popularity, it was a place where wealthy visitors, major gamblers, and the stars of the entertainment world gathered. Congress Spring (in the park) was named in 1792 when it was visited by several members of the newly established Congress. As presently constituted, Congress Park, a basin-shaped park in the center of Saratoga Springs, contains Grecian pavilions over several natural springs, Italianate sculpture among fountains, and Daniel Chester French’s sculpture The Spirit of Life, commemorating Spencer Trask, a benefactor of Saratoga and its race course, who also founded Yaddo, a famed writers’ colony located just outside of town. An historic carousel is also located in the park.
In 1866 John Morrisey [see below] founded the Saratoga Clubhouse, a quasi-gambling establishment; the casino’s main building was built in 1870; the east wing, used for gambling, was built in 1871. In 1894, Richard Albert Canfield bought the clubhouse and it became the Canfield Casino; he added a dining room and an early form of air conditioning, and he became known as “King of the Gamblers.” Canfield enhanced the building and grounds of Congress Park to bring them up to European gambling resort standards, Saratoga then becoming known as the “Monte Carlo of America.” This era ended in 1907 when gambling was banned in the city.
The Modern Spa: The Saratoga Spa State Park is a National Historic Landmark, noted for its classical (mostly Neo-Georgian) architecture and its diverse cultural, aesthetic, and recreational resources. Subsequent to the 1911 creation of the protected park [see above], the Lincoln and Roosevelt [that is, T. R.] bath houses were built to accommodate spa treatments. Then in 1929, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt became governor of New York, he pushed for development of the springs reservation; as a result, in 1931 the “New Spa” was begun, and by 1935 both the new buildings and landscaped malls were opened to the public (this was the first major project completed under FDR’s “New Deal”). In the 1960s, recreational facilities were expanded in the park, including golf, outdoor swimming, and picnic sites. In 1966 the Saratoga Performing Arts Center was added to the complex, and in 1987 the National Museum of Dance and Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney [Dance] Hall of Fame was founded in the refurbished 1918 Washington Bathhouse.
Sport (The Racecourse): Already famous for its mineral springs, in 1847 entrepreneurs George Cole and Alfonso Patten started Saratoga down a new path to fame: horse racing. They opened the Saratoga Trotting Course, the inaugural race of which was won by the well-known horse “Lady Suffolk,” by then an elderly ten-year-old. Later, other small race courses came and went, but the Saratoga Trotting Grounds remained.
Then Saratoga held its first thoroughbred horse racing meet a month after the Battle of Gettysburg (i.e., in August, 1863). It was arranged and promoted by gambler, casino owner, former bare-knuckle boxing champion, and future Congressman John “Old Smoke” Morrisey, and it ran for four days, drawing 15,000 locals and tourists over the four days (admission was $1). Spectators watched the races from carriages, as there was no grandstand built at the time. And organized horse racing was at a standstill just then in the United States because of the Civil War: the Union forces had requisitioned just about every horse they could find for the war effort.
However, with this first success, Morrisey purchased 94 acres across the street from the Saratoga Trotting Grounds to construct the now-famous Saratoga Race Course, which opened August 2, 1864; Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt helped to underwrite its cost. (The Saratoga Trotting Grounds, the original course, was converted to a training track, which is still in use today and is known as Horse Haven.)
Thus a new era of horse racing in the United States had arrived, and the Saratoga race course is now regarded as one of the key centers of the sport; in 1955 the New York Racing Association was franchised to run New York State’s three major race tracks – Saratoga, Belmont Park, and Aqueduct Racetrack. (Although the track claims to be “the oldest active sporting venue in the United States,” in fact the jousting grounds by “The Chimneys,” natural rock formations at Mount Solon, Virginia, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, is the acknowledged oldest continuously operating sporting grounds in the United States, where international jousting competitions continue to be held every August.)
A natural spring (with manmade surround) in Saratoga Spa State Park.
Another natural spring, spouting out of the natural rock, in Saratoga Spa State Park.
A spring-fed drinking fountain in Congress Park, Saratoga Springs, New York.
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