Lake George, NY to Ballston Spa, NY (I-87 to Saratoga Springs, Hwy 50 to Ballston Spa)
This stage of the journey avoids the great population centers of southeast New York in a gentle arc from Lake George to south-central New York. Our first stop is Saratoga Springs, one of the most popular vacation resorts of the late 1800’s due to a belief in the healing water of the local mineral springs as well as the “healing properties” of betting at the famous Saratoga Springs Race Track and, after the race, frequenting Canfield’s Casino.
Saratoga Springs, NY
The mineral springs in the area were well known to the local natives, who believed that the water had medicinal properties. This belief was transferred to the incoming Europeans and the arrival of the railroad in 1832 opened easy access to area. In 1870 the Delaware and Hudson Railroad began running the Empire State Express direct from New York City to Saratoga Springs to serve the burgeoning population of New York City. The first horse racing track opened in 1863, moving to the current location in 1864. Horse racing and gambling became very popular in the late 1800’s and the center of the scene was Saratoga Springs. Union Avenue runs from the race track due west to Congress Park, a large park in the center of Saratoga Springs that surrounds Canfield’s, the premiere casino of the era, built in 1870.
Just north of Congress Park along Broadway is the historic city center, lined with gracious hotels and buildings from the late 1800’s amidst newer structures in a panoply of red brick.
Union Avenue leads east from Congress Park to the race track, lined with homes built during the glory days of the Saratoga Springs racing era.
The race track itself is closed as the season ended September 4 but the National Museum of Racing is just down the street.
The museum celebrates the history of thoroughbred horse racing in the United States and, of course, starts with the Triple Crown, the epitome of racing excellence. The Triple Crown is awarded to a horse which has won the “big three” horse races in the United States: The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness, and The Belmont Stakes. In 1943 Count Fleet won the Triple Crown and his trophies are on display.
One enters the museum proper through an actual starting gate.
A scale used to weigh jockeys at the track in the 1800’s.
Many owners had their own scales in order to monitor the weight of their house jockeys. This example is from 1890.
Many historic trophies are on display. Trophies were often reused throughout their history. This example was made in 1828, and last used as The Sanford Cup in 1938.
The museum is designed over several levels in a calm, tasteful manner.
It’s hard to imagine how small the jockeys were as every effort was made to reduce the amount of weight the horse carried. This display case contains the equipment of Johnny Loftus used in 1919, when he won the first Triple Crown. Note the size of the saddle in relationship to his boots.
The actual Triple Crown Trophy did not exist until 1950 when Cartier was commissioned by the Thoroughbred Racing Association to create the unique, triangular shaped cup.
By 1900 a strong anti-gambling sentiment swept the nation and the number of horse tracks dwindled from 318 to just 25 by 1908. The Saratoga race Track survived…
Just down Hwy 50 from Saratoga Springs is the small village of Ballston Spa. The village was first settled in 1771 near a natural spring and in 1803 the San Souci Hotel was built, at the time the largest hotel in the United States. At one time home to a number of paper mills today it seems to primarily be a bedroom community for Albany, some 30 miles to the southeast. The main street heads west for a couple of blocks off Hwy 50.
In a row of buildings on Hwy 50 sits a narrow white building in a row of structures built in the late 1890’s, The National Bottle Museum.
National Bottle Museum
In 1978 the Federation of Historic Bottle Clubs banded together and founded the National Bottle Museum in Ballston Spa, an early center of the bottle manufacturing industry in the United States. Today the museum is housed in an old hardware store, built in 1891, and uses many of the original fixtures of the store, including the shelves and the long rolling ladders that allowed the clerks to access the shelves which stretch all the way to the high ceiling.
By 1850 there were over 40 bottle making companies in New York State alone, making millions of bottles a year by hand. A very simplified description of the process is the molten glass was made, a glob attached to a long blow tube and then the hot glass is blown into the desired shape using a mold. A wall display explains the various tools used in that process. Machine technology for making glass bottles did not appear until 1903.
Bottles were used for all manner of contents, including medicines of the day. Here’s an example that includes a label that makes some interesting claims of effectiveness.
A very gregarious man in his early 60’s led me around the display, giving a detailed account of not only the various displays but whatever tangent came into his mind. While listening to his views on the Vietnam War I was able to peer over his shoulder and see an interesting display of early milk bottles. The first glass milk bottles in the United States were created in 1884 and until the early 1960’s glass bottles were the primary storage vehicle for milk. This unusual shape was used prior to the homogenization of milk and allowed the cream to rise to the top and collect in the bulbous neck. The small ladles were perfectly sized to fit the interior narrowing of the bottle. This allowed the cream to be poured off, leaving the skim milk in the bottle.
Once homogenization became common place there was no need for bottles to allow space for the cream and the more modern shapes that some of us might remember came into use. Glass milk bottles were replaced by plastic in the 1960’s.
An interesting little stop along the way!
Next up: Play ball!
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