Charlie Kuenzel

HISTORY

WRITTEN BY CHARLIE KUENZEL PHOTOS PROVIDED BY THE GEORGE S. BOLSTER COLLECTION

SARATOGA’S STORY Shaped by Transportation

WRITTEN BY CHARLIE KUENZEL IMAGES FROM THE GEORGE S. BOLSTER COLLECTION

T

he history of any area can look like a patchwork quilt. Even though there might be many small intricate pieces in the quilt, the broad overview usually gives great visual pleasure. A close inspection of a single patch usually tells a small but interesting story. These are my thoughts on one small patch of our History: transportation. Although a small topic, it had a huge effect on the direction of the city of Saratoga Springs. The story of Saratoga Springs has always been the story of a resort destination. In 1802 Gideon and Doanda Putnam built the first hotel that was to provide accommodations to summer visitors coming for the healing mineral waters. One of the hardest parts of visiting Saratoga Springs in the early 1800s was how to get there, easily. In the early years of the village, it was a slow process for visitors to travel to Saratoga Springs mainly because of the available forms of transportation.

A diary of a woman from Mobile Alabama described her visit to the village in the early 1800s… Her trip started with boarding a sailing vessel in Mobile that took a great Passengers were welcomed on the train in July of 1832 to travel from Schenectady to Saratoga Springs. Newspapers reported that by the summer of 1833 the railroad was fully city again and cause widespread change. We had built a village in the 1800s that had thousands of hotel rooms that would be filled for the entire summer season because a “The past doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.” - Mark Twain number of days to sail to New York operating, transporting passengers of the form of transportation. harbor. She then took a steamship and freight. This radically changed The invention of the automobile up the Hudson River to Albany the dynamics of the village of would give us an even faster, more where she then boarded a horse- Saratoga Springs. Hotel registers independent form of transportation, drawn coach to make the last leg show that the years before the but that increased speed and of the journey to Saratoga Springs. operation of the railroad the total independence would cause new Her diary reflections were eye- summer visitors were a few thousand. problems for Saratoga Springs. opening when she described the journey as long and arduous, and that the easiest part of the trip was the 30-mile coach ride that took only eight hours. As a result of slow travel early visitors coming to the city were not in a hurry to leave and spent the majority of the season in the city. Once the railroad was operating, the number of visitors became a few thousand a week. This helped to ignite a boom in the village in the summer months. The railroad also brought diverse supplies of food to the hotels and new products to the shops on Broadway. In the mid to late 1800s railroad As the use of automobiles exploded in the country, visitors could now split their vacation time between Saratoga Springs and other desirable destinations in the area. Niagara Falls, Cape Cod, Maine and the Jersey shore all were now attracting summer visitors away from the “Queen of American Spas,” Slow transportation would change travel increased as well as the Saratoga Springs. In time it was in the summer of 1832 when a steamships on the Hudson River. evident that we had over built our rail line from Schenectady was Many railroad advertisements hotels to accommodate a different connected to Saratoga Springs. showed how the evening south- visitor population. People wanted At the time it was only the second bound train from Saratoga got their vacation time to be fast paced rail line to be built in the State of passengers to Albany in time for an and diverse. By the 1940s with the New York, showing the importance overnight sail down the Hudson to occurrence of World War II and antiof Saratoga Springs as a summer arrive in New York City by morning. gambling legislation, Saratoga would destination. Even though the rail What a great improvement- you no longer fill her huge hotels and trip was slower than one of today, could leave Saratoga after dinner change was happening that would it was a much faster and more and arrive in NYC by breakfast! be drastic for the city. Saratoga’s comfortable form of transportation Life had changed because of the economy began to slump. for the time. The concept of building a rail line to the village was the brilliant idea of a few citizens who wanted to increase tourism. Henry Walton, John Clarke, John Steele, Miles Beach, Gideon Davidson and Rockwell Putnam were the organizers. A special act was passed in the New York State legislature on February 15, 1831 to issue bonds to pay for ease of transportation. Accounts also show that the price had also dropped which allowed more members of society the convenience of a faster, affordable mode of transportation. Visitors came in huge numbers and the village exploded in activity every summer. In response, we built many hotels, some of which were some of the biggest in the country. By the early 1950s all of the city’s enormous, renowned hotels were gone. These huge hotels, rarely filled, made it hard to operate in the black, and were eventually razed. It was during this time that the city began to re-think its position as a resort destination. Over time our great city changed again to meet the demand of a new America. The power of Saratoga Springs the construction of the rail line in Mark Twain once said “The past has always been to adjust and rethe amounts of $100/ share with doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.” imagine itself. In the future other a maximum of $300,000 to be This is the truth for the history of our factors will probably change, and raised. The group eventually raised city when considering changes to challenge our city. It’s the creativity $180,000 to pay for the 21.5 miles the forms of transportation. In the and foresight of its people that of rail line, and construction started early 20th century, the invention of will allow us to continue making in the spring. the automobile would change the Saratoga Springs a great small city. SS

Rarely Seen Photos of OLD SARATOGA Springs

WRITTEN BY CHARLIE KUENZEL IMAGES FROM THE GEORGE S. BOLSTER COLLECTION

CONGRESS PARK

This is a very popular image from the Bolster Collection. The image shows two men enjoying Congress Park on a warm summer day.

Today we would call this location City Hall but in 1887 we were a still a town. A close look will show the original bell/clock tower that has been removed. In the early years of the twentieth century, a similar tower was struck by lightning in Chicago and insurance companies demanded the removal of these towers for safety reasons across the country.

SARATOGA VICHY WAGON

In the mid twentieth-century Saratoga Vichy was a very popular drink and mixer at bars and restaurants. The name “Vichy” comes from the belief that some of our mineral waters were very close in taste to the very popular water from Vichy France. This is an iconic picture of the horse-drawn delivery wagon in the front of the famous Grand Union Hotel.