Skidmore Saratoga Memory Project

250 Years in 16 Maps

Saratoga Springs  1772-1915   

Saratoga Springs, NY, established as a separate district within the town of Saratoga in 1819, became an independent village in 1826 and received a city charter from the state of New York in 1915. 

These  timeline maps offer a snapshot of the city's growth and development from the early years, through its nineteenth-century heyday as a playground of the rich and (sometimes) famous, and twentieth-century retrenchment and redevelopment. Click on any map in the Map Gallery to find out its story.  A separate timeline identifies key dates in the city's development.

Or watch a slideshow that allows you to see these historical maps above the current cityscape.  (Georeferencing helps reveal waht they cover as well as how each map uses perspective to shape its representation of the city.) 

 

A Map of the Survey and Partition of all that Tract of Land situate, lying and being in the county of Albany known by the name of KAYADEROSSERAS alias QUEENSBOROUGH for the partition whereof...

1772

A View and Section of the Rock Spring at Saratoga

1809

Map of a number of building lots near the Congress Spring in the town of Saratoga Springs in the county of Saratoga : being the property of the heirs of Gideon Putnam deceased as the same was surveyed in April 1810

1810

 

Map of Saratoga Springs (about 1820) Drawn by Jho(?). M. Davison, Jr. from data given him by Mrs. Maria van Schoon haven in 1890

1820 (1890); 20th c.

 

Map of Saratoga Springs Saratoga Co. New York

1848

Map of Saratoga Co., New York: from actual surveys

1856

 

The Saratoga Course of 1874

1874

Map of the town of Saratoga Springs, Saratoga Co., N.Y.

1879

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

1888

Map of a portion of former Marvin Estate situated on South Broadway, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

1926

Saratoga Springs, 1976, 1926 A Map by John Held, Jr, who wishes he had never started the idea

1926/1976

Map of the City of Saratoga Springs

1939

Map of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

1950s

Outer Area Zoning Map and Core Area Zoning Map

1971

Saratoga Springs

1981

Historic Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Queen of Spas

1996

In the twenty first century, paper maps remain a wonderful source for historical information.  Visitors and residents can still find paper maps in Saratoga Springs, whether the tourist maps that advertise key attractions and businesses, or walking tour routes in brochures from the Visitors' Center.

But many more maps are available as digital documents.  Saratoga Springs' zoning maps, the Saratoga Convention & Tourism Bureau's interactive map, and the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce interactive city map (by JIMAPCO) offer examples of the kind of device-friendly maps today's visitors might consult to make their way through and around the Spa City.