Congress Park

Historic Congress Park in Saratoga Springs includes an early park, a former gambling casino, the site of Congress Hall, and several historic sculptures. Gideon Putnam founded this part of Saratoga Springs, the Lower Village, in the early 1800’s and was among the first to recognize the value of Congress Spring, promoting its popularity as a healing water. After Putnam died in 1812, Congress Hall flourished as one of the elegant hostelries of the Victorian era. The park’s early form took shape in the late 1820’s when John Clarke bought the swampy spring to the south and opened a small private park, while the Congress Water he bottled was sold nationwide. From the nineteenth century onward, visitors came to Saratoga Springs for healing mineral waters and clean air, and walks around Congress Park became an important part of the Saratoga cure, easing the tedium of drinking the waters. The park expanded through the century, and in 1875 Frederick Law Olmsted further improved it. Summer attractions included the Circular Railway. The park as it exists today emerged in 1913, when the city of Saratoga Springs created a city park system that joined Clarke’s Congress Park, the Casino, the Italian Gardens, and the site of Congress Hall to form Historic Congress Park.

Saratoga Springs, New York · United States