Saratoga Springs, New York, Part 4

Saratoga Springs, New York, Part 4: East Side Historic District

This final post on Saratoga Springs highlights the East Side Historic District of the city, primarily a residential neighborhood extending from Congress Park to the Saratoga Race Course. During the 19^th and early 20^th centuries the city’s well-to-do residents built their homes here, when the city was one of the country’s top resorts, and was frequented by many of the wealthiest families of the era. Primarily the owners of stores and spas, the people who built homes here wanted to live in houses that reflected their success. They gravitated to the neighborhoods where the wealthy summer residents had their homes, ending up with scaled-down versions of those homes, often by the same architects. There are 379 buildings within the district in an array of styles, from Gothic Revival to Bungalow, and are predominately faced in clapboard or brick. Only 15 of the buildings are of modern construction, and thus not considered contributing properties to the district’s historic character. This neighborhood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. We enjoyed walking through the district taking pictures of the many beautiful and impressive properties. 

Albany, New York Walking Tour

While we were in Albany, New York, we stopped at the Visitors Center and picked up a brochure for a walking tour of the city. The brochure highlights 22 significant locations within the city's historic downtown district, with an explanation for each stop along the way. Included are historic churches, a splendid Town Hall building, the magnificent State University of New York building (which was once the administrative offices of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad), the State Capitol (which I blogged below), parks, and various municipal buildings and plazas. Walking tours are a fun way to discover a city, you see so much more than you do from a bus, and you can take as long as you want, lingering at the places you find most appealing. With the looming, ornate, and dark architecture found throughout the city, Albany had a very Gothic feel to me, which might explain the annual Zombie Walk held in the city in October. The official name for someone from Albany is an Albanian, but not to be confused with a citizen of Albania! The unofficial nickname is Smallbany, meant as an insult by some, but Albanians embrace their small town culture. Since Albany was settled as a Dutch trading post in the 17th century, there are still many descendents with Dutch roots. The tulip is the city's official flower, celebrated in Washington Park each Mother's Day weekend. Here are some pictures from our small peek into Albany.