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How to Arrive at Saratoga Springs
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Saratoga Illustrated, 1876: In approaching Saratoga Springs, over its one railway, either from the north or south, the traveler meets with a surprise. The change from open farms to close-built town is abrupt, and the cars are among the houses, and at the station, almost before the fields are missed. From the south, the…
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How grand were Saratoga’s grand hotels?
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In 1876: pretty grand. Here’s Congress Hall, just feet from Saratoga’s most celebrated springs. Here’s The United States Hotel. 232 feet fronting Broadway, and 656 feet on Division Street. Here is the slightly immodest interior courtyard of the United States Hotel. The piazzas around the courtyard were 2,300 feet in length (“for promenades”), and…
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The Hotels of Saratoga Springs
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Saratoga Springs became one of America’s great resorts on the basis of its springs, to which the wealthy and the wishful flocked for their alleged restorative powers. Once they flocked there, they needed somewhere to stay, and the hotels of Saratoga were legendarily grand. “Saratoga Illustrated: A Visitor’s Guide of Saratoga” in 1876 described…
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Avenue of the Pines
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Apparently, Saratoga’s Avenue of the Pines has been such for quite some time. It’s unclear when this lovely postcard was made. The name of the avenue can be found in reports of the State Conservation Commission going back into the 1920s. A 1922 report to the Legislature told of the efforts to repave the…
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Saratoga Race Track
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In time for track season, more horsies. There has been racing in Saratoga since at least 1847, with thoroughbred racing beginning in 1863. This cursory reading of the Saratoga Race Course Wikipedia entry exhausts Hoxsie’s knowledge of, and interest in, the sport of kings. Another early 20th-century postcard from the Boston Public Library’s collection.
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They’re off!
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It’s Hoxsie’s understanding that some sort of horse racing takes place up in Saratoga Springs most summers. Since Saratoga has become one of those places that’s so crowded that no one goes there anymore, we’re not entirely sure. But if so, this old painted postcard, from the collection of the Boston Public Library, would…
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Sometimes, one Liberty Bell isn’t enough
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A reminder to those who think the forefathers got it all right and a strict reading of the Constitution is all we ever need: they didn’t. The Liberty Bell wasn’t enough. To call attention to injustice and draw support for women’s suffrage, a “Justice Bell,” an imitation of the Liberty Bell, was cast and…
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You can still bank on the Fourth of July
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In 1978, ATM cards weren’t even called that yet. National Commercial Bank and Trust Co. was going by the moniker “The Bank,” and was one of the first banks to offer an ATM card, which they called the Bank Key. Not too long after, National Commercial would drop “The Bank” and become “Key Bank.”…
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Floods Along the Mohawk
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This year, it’s rain. In February of 1938, it was the breakup of ice and heavy winter rains that brought devastating floods to the Mohawk Valley. In Amsterdam, an ice jam wrecked the No. 4 plant of Mohawk Carpet Mills Shuttleworth Division and cut off natural gas service to the Rug City. Ice flows…
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The Bank documents our history
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This ad from the 1976 Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s program promotes a thirty-minute documentary about our community’s history produced by The Bank, as the National Commercial Bank and Trust Company was stylishly calling itself. It was offering this 16mm film to any interested group or organization. We simply must find a copy of this…