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

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

Three versions of this 1810 plat, one of the earliest of Saratoga Springs, show founder Gideon Putnam’s properties shortly before his death, mapping out Saratoga Springs’ transition from rural land to urban settlement. Putnam and his wife Doanda settled in the area 1789.

English

Scott, James

Manuscript

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Paper

Scott, James

1810

ca. 1810

Plats – scale divisions of land or property – are an important form of urban cartography. Three versions of this 1810 plat, one of the earliest of Saratoga Springs, show founder Gideon Putnam’s properties shortly before his death, mapping out Saratoga Springs’ transition from rural land to urban settlement. Putnam and his wife Doanda settled in the area 1789. As he cleared his several hundred acres, Putnam found a number of springs along the fault line, realized their potential, and established Putnam’s Tavern and Boarding House in 1802, beginning Saratoga Springs’ rise as a tourist destination and thriving resort center.

The Scott map is both foundational and influential. It exists in as an elegant original, drawn in red and black, in the New York State Archives. There are at least two later versions, all of them manuscript (hand-drawn): an 1825 copy, drawn by G.G. Scott, son of the original surveyor and held by Saratoga County; and a twentieth-century tracing, with a few buildings added for good measure, in the City Historian’s Office. This plat continued to be cited in property cases well into the 20th century.

A 20th century copy of this map, with the same title and several additions/modifications, is in the Saratoga Springs City Historian's Office. A brittle contemporary copy, is in the Saratoga County Historian's office.

New York State Archives

Property

City Plan

Early maps

Manuscript maps

Property and Development

Manuscript Maps

Religion and Spirituality

Saratoga Springs (N.Y.)--Maps

Scott, James. Saratoga Springs (N.Y.)