Saratoga Springs, New York, USA
1854 - Saratoga Springs

Saratoga Springs, situated in Saratoga township, Saratoga county, New York, 38 miles by railroad N. of Albany, and 32 N. of Troy. This is the most fashionable watering-place on the American continent, as well as the most in repute for the medical virtues of its waters. Here assemble from every quarter of the Union the devotees of pleasure and the victims of disease ; the pass belle, bedecked in jewellery and artificials, the wornout roue, in search of an heiress — the gambler, seeking his prey, and the brainless, bedizened fop, his easy victim, all are here. The visitors, however, are not confined to these extremes of society ; the merchant, the statesman, the divine, and the man of letters, here seek health or recreation, and the pleasures of mutual intercourse. Here are formed acquaintances by persons, from different portions of the Union, that tend to ob literate sectional prejudices, and cement the bonds of our political, by strengthening those of our social union.

Saratoga owes its celebrity almost solely to its mineral springs, the surrounding scenery possessing few, if any, extraordinary attractions. Saratoga lake, however, a beautiful sheet of water, is within a pleasant morning's or evening's drive ; and Glen's falls, in the Hudson, and Lake George, are within two or three hours' travel by railway and plank- road. In the vicinity of the springs were fought the battles of Saratoga and Stillwater, in 1777 ; and near Lake George occurred the massacre of Fort William Henry, in 1757. The village itself consists mainly of a single street, lined with spacious hotels, boarding houses, some stores, and the private residences of the stationary population. Among the most fashionable hotels are "the United States." an immense building, with finely ornamented grounds, and capable of lodging 300 or 400 persons; "Congress Hall," near Congress spring, with a spacious piazza the length of the building ; and Union Hall, opposite the latter, the resort of those who prefer quiet and retirement. Most of the hotels have spacious grounds, tastefully laid out. Beside these, there are a number of smaller hotels and boarding houses, all of which are thronged to overflowing in the months of July and August, with visitors from every part of the Union, and some from Canada, Europe, Mexico, South America, and the West Indies. It is stated that in the present season, (1853,) before the end of August, more than 30,000 strangers had already visited these springs.

This spot is said to have been visited by invalids as early as 1773, but Congress spring, whose waters are now in the greatest request, was not discovered till 1792. High rock, a conical deposite of limestone, in the shape and about the size of a haycock, with a cylindrical opening down the middle, from which issues water strongly charged with carbonic acid gas, and Flat rock, another limestone deposite, naturally attracted the attention of the first settlers, and these springs were for a period the only ones known. Among the more recently discovered springs are the Empire and Iodine springs. The following results were obtained from an analysis of the waters of three of the principal springs. Accurding to Dr. Chilton, a gallon of Congress spring water, in 1843, yielded chloride of sodium, 363.83 grains; carbonate of soda, 7.20; carbonate of lime, 86.14+; carbonate of magnesia, 78.62 ; carbonate of iron, .84; sulphate of soda, .65 ; iodide of sodium and bromide of potassium, 5.92; silica, 47+; alumina, .32. Total, 544 grains. Carbonic acid, 284.65 ; atmospheric air, 5.41=290.06 inches of gaseous contents, Professor Emmons' analysis of a gallon of the Empire water yielded chloride of sodium, 269.69+; bicarbonate of lime, 141.82+; bicarbonate of magnesia, 41.98+; bicarbonate of soda, 30.85; hydriodate of soda or iodine, 12.00; solid contents of a gallon, 496.35 grains. Dr. Allen's analysis of a gallon of the water of the Iodine spring, gave 147.66+ grains chloride of sodium ; 73.35 carbonate of magnesia; 28.95+ carbonate of lime ; 8.00 carbonate of soda ; .90 carbonate of iron; 8.56+ hydriodate of soda ; solid contents, 257.43+; carbonic acid gas, 344.30; atmospheric air, 2.50 cubic inches; total gaseous contents, 346.5 inches. The springs are readily reached by railway from all the great cities and towns of the North and West, and from most at the South. These waters have been found very beneficial in affections of the liver, in same cases of chronic dyspepsia and chronic diseases of the bowels. Besides other qualities, they appear to possess the virtues of a tonic united with those of a gentle cathartic. Great quantities of the waters are bottled, especially of the Congress and Empire springs, and exported. The village has a bank and 2 newspaper offices.

A New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States: Giving a Full and Comprehensive Review of the Present Condition, Industry, and Resources of the American Confederacy ... Thomas Baldwin (of Philadelphia.) Joseph Thomas January 1, 1854 Philadelphia : Lippincott, Grambo & Company 1854.

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