On B R O A D W AY 262-268 This SPOT.. SPOT
WRITTEN BY CAROL GODETTE PHOTOS PROVIDED
Credit - Bonacio Construction
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On This Spot:
A SERIES THAT PEELS BACK THE LAYERS OF TIME AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS IN SARATOGA SPRINGS TO REVEAL THE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES OUR CITY HAS UNDERGONE
Say what you want, but we wouldn’t be anything with-
Sept 17, 1893, a piece from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Credit- Beatrice Sweeney postcard collection
out the Springs,” often quipped lifelong Saratogian Minnie Bolster about her beloved hometown. Minnie always stressed the importance of water shaping Saratoga Springs into the beautiful city we treasure today.
Water played the lead role in obvious and not so obvious aspects of the evolving landscape of 262-268 Broadway. “This entire area is loaded with both mineral and pure springs,” reports Charles Kuenzel, president of the Saratoga Springs History Museum. The curative powers of our springs drew tourists “to take the cure” and led to the development of world-class hotels such as The United States Hotel, which became headquarters for political conventions of the 1800s. Soon the demand for large convention sites surpassed the capacity of these hotels. This led to the 1892 construction of a convention hall described below in the August 11, 1893 issue of The Baltimore Sun :
saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com
HOLIDAY 2020 | SIMPLY SARATOGA | 77
