Photo: Adam Lenhardt, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Before horse racing, Saratoga Springs was known for its water. The naturally carbonated springs, rich in minerals and fed by a fault line under the city, attracted visitors in the late 1700s and helped build a resort town of grand hotels in the 1800s.
Companies pumped so much gas and water from the wells to sell carbonic acid and bottled water that the springs began to fail. In 1909 the state created a reservation to protect them, which later became Saratoga Spa State Park.
The bathhouses
In the 1930s the state built the Lincoln and Roosevelt bathhouses, the Hall of Springs and the Gideon Putnam Hotel in a Georgian Revival style. Visitors came for mineral baths that were promoted as a health treatment.
Today the Roosevelt Baths and Spa still offers mineral baths, and the Lincoln building houses the Saratoga Springs History Museum’s partner exhibits and offices.
Still flowing
Many springs around the city and park are free to visit. Visitors bring cups and bottles to taste the salty, fizzy water at spots such as the Hayes Spring and the Island Spouter.
The park is also home to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, which brings its own summer economy.
