Park History
The springs in this area are a result of a geological fault
that allows the carbonated mineral water from deep (one thousand feet or
more)
in the
earth to come to the surface. This fault is caused by the continued growth
of the Adirondack Mountains (of which we are on the edge), and the stability
of the surrounding land.
Native Americans frequented the mineral springs in the fourteenth century. They believed the springs had healing powers, and the springs were considered sacred. In the late 1700's, Sir William Johnson, a friend of the Native Americans, became ill and he was transported to the springs to drink of the water and to bathe. He is believed to be the first white man to visit the springs. The town of Johnstown, about twenty miles west of here, is named for Sir William Johnson.
During the 1800's, Saratoga, much as today, was a very popular tourist attraction. People came to partake of the waters. In the middle 1800's, the water was being bottled and shipped around the world. Reportedly, up to seven million bottles a year were shipped.
Ice Cream soda fountains became very popular in the early 1900's. The fizz
in the ice cream sodas was caused by carbon dioxide. The mineral springs
throughout the park contain a large amount of carbon dioxide, and the commercial
companies drilled wells and extracted the carbon dioxide and let the water
run. At one time, there were over two hundred wells.
This pumping resulted in lowering the water table in the area and increased fears that the mineral springs would fail. In 1908, the State of New York passed laws limiting the amount of pumping. The commercial companies contested these laws. In 1912, New York State declared eight hundred acres in this area as a state reservation, and took ownership of the wells. The wells were capped and the water table recovered. This was the beginning of Saratoga Spa State Park. Over the years, additional land has been added so that the park now consists of approximately twenty-two hundred acres.
Simon Baruch (Ba - rook) was a hydrotherapist, a medical doctor who believed in the healing powers of the mineral waters. He and others advocated the development of the springs in Saratoga into a health spa. When Franklin D. Roosevelt was Governor of New York State, he hired an architect to study the spas in Europe, which served as tourist and health centers, and to design the grandest spa in the world at Saratoga to compete.
Roosevelt went on to be President, and he instituted programs to provide work for the large number of unemployed in the United States because of the Depression. Implementation of the architectural plans at the Saratoga Reservation was accomplished under funding from a federal government loan program, which was the precursor to the Work Projects Administration. Many of the buildings at the park were the first to be completed under the loan program and were dedicated by President Roosevelt in 1935. The cost of the project was approximately nine million dollars.
