page_title: Saratoga Springs, New York
section_title: Springs
hierarchical_section_title: Saratoga Springs, New York / Culture / Springs
caption_attribution_description: English: Columbian Spring: Saratoga Springs, NY
context_page_description: Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 200 years. It is home to the Saratoga Race Course, a thoroughbred horse racing track, and Saratoga Performing Arts Center, a music and dance venue.
  In 2014, national online real estate brokerage Movoto ranked Saratoga Springs as the tenth-best place to live in New York State.
context_section_description: Before racing began in Saratoga, the area's natural mineral springs had been attracting wealthy families for many decades.  The springs occur on a line where the north-south Saratoga Fault allows water trapped in subsurface shale layers to reach the surface.
  Believed to have healing powers, springs can be found all over town. Most of the springs are covered by small pavilions and marked by plaques; others, however, are less conspicuous, sometimes just a spigot in a rock. The springs are famous for their varied and distinct tastes: some are clear freshwater, others are saltier, and some taste strongly of a certain mineral such as sodium bicarbonate or sodium chloride. There is a sulfur odor, but mineral analysis of the water consistently shows almost no presence of dissolved sulfur. The sulfur is in the form of the gas hydrogen sulfide, which degasses from the water very quickly. Visitors are welcome to bottle the spring water for personal consumption.
  Toward the end of the nineteenth century excessive pumping for commercial bottling was threatening to deplete the springs.  In 1911 the New York State Reservation, now the Spa State Park, was created to protect the springs and the Lincoln and Roosevelt bath houses were built. Currently, luxury spa treatments with these waters are available in the Roosevelt Baths.
  
  The springs include:
  Big Red Spring
  Charlie Spring
  Columbian Springs
  Congress Spring
  Crystal Spring
  Deer Park Spring
  Empire Spring
  Geyser Island Spouter           
  Geyser Spring
  Governor Spring
  Hathorn #1
   
  Hathorn #3
  Hayes Well Spring
  High Rock Spring
  Old Iron Spring
  Old Red Spring
  Orenda Spring and Tufa Deposits
  Patterson Springs
  Peerless Spring
  Polaris Spring
  Rosemary Spring
  State Seal
   
  Other springs popular in the nineteenth century which are no longer in use include the Hamilton Spring, the Patterson Spring, and the Favorite Spring.
caption: Columbian Spring, one of Saratoga's many public springs
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