 | GROWTH OF SARATOGA. Saratoga in 1901 |  |
GROWTH OF SARATOGA.
“In 1773 Dirick Scowton cleared a piece of land about High
his furniture on his back from Saratoga Lake and built a tavern
near High Rock. High Rock Spring had various owners after
this—Samuel Norton, Isaac Law, Rip Van Dam, Henry Livingstone,
and (during the Revolution) Alexander Bryan.
“Gideon Putnam arrived at Saratoga in 1789. He seems to
have been the great founder of Saratoga. He said to his wife:
Saratoga is a healthy place; the mineral springs are valuable,
the timber is good and in great abundance, and I can build me
a great house.
“In 1802 Putnam purchased of Henry Walton an acre of land
where the Grand Union now stands, and built seventy feet of the
present hotel. This was a great house in those days, and the
wonder of the country. His sign was a rudely painted representation
of Putnam and the wolf.
“In 1806 Putnam tubed Washington spring, and afterwards the
Columbian.
Visitors now began to come to Saratoga. Many came up
from Ballston in stages, took dinner with Putnam, and returned.
“In 1811 Putnam began the erection of Congress Hall. He
fell from the scaffolding and died a year afterwards from the
effect of his injuries. He ranks with John Rodgers, Miles Standish,
and Daniel Boon—a great pioneer and a great man. Congress
Hall was finished in 1815, became the property of Mr. Van
Scoonhoven, who kept it until 1822, when the company was
extended by taking in Samuel H. Drake, John E. Beekman, and
John McDougall Lawrence.
In 1855 Henry H. Hathorn and Harvey P. Hall purchased
the property of Z. V. Kingsley, of West Point. Hathorn and Hall
made great improvements in the hotel, but on the evening of the
29th of May, 1866, the building took fire and burned to the ground.
It was rebuilt in 1868 on a still grander scale, and is now one of
the most beautiful hotels in America. Mr. H. H. Hathorn is
still at its head.”
| GROWTH OF SARATOGA. Saratoga in 1901 | |