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

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

1996

White Mountain Puzzles

eng

McEntee, Bill

White Mountain Puzzles, www.whitemountainpuzzles.com/

1996

1996

"Feather in top right corner: 'Sarah-to-ga' -'hillside country of the great river': The Mohawk tribe named this area for its proximity to the Hudson River.'"

This colorful pictorial puzzle map, assembled by Saratoga Springs Public Library staff members, captures the essence of late twentieth-century Saratoga Springs tourism. The city invites visitors to enjoy its history, recreation, and local businesses. Reading from top to bottom draws viewers from past to present, starting with the Spa City’s Native American origin story, largely absent in nineteenth-century tourist maps. At the bottom, vignettes highlight Saratoga Springs’ summer offerings: the arts (SPAC), horses (racetrack), history (the Battle of Saratoga), and relaxation. The city’s traditional “health” component is harder to find in this map.

Although a modern artist’s rendering— as much illustration as map –- this depiction draws on well-known cartographic traditions. Placing a ring of images around the central map traditionally includes additional information, often city plans or people “types” in early modern maps such as Willem Blaeu’s Africa (1635). In the White Mountain map, the outer row, tinted a coppery color, evokes nineteenth-century city founders, key citizens, jockeys, and architecture. The inner row offers a series of advertisements for companies that (not so surprisingly) appear on the map.

Saratoga Room, Saratoga Springs Public Library

White Mountain Puzzle, Inc.

Jackson, N.H.

25.5" x 34"

Flexible

6/26/2014