Waterford in Saratoga County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Button Park

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., March 20, 2018

1. Button Park Marker

Inscription.

Site of the historic
Lysander Button Fire Engine Manufactory, 1850.
Builders of the famed Button Steamers and Hand-Pumpers.

Erected by Town of Waterford.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Man-Made Features. A significant historical year for this entry is 1850.

Location. 42° 47.261′ N, 73° 40.785′ W. Marker is in Waterford, New York, in Saratoga County. It can be reached from Tugboat Alley. Marker is along the waterfront about 100 feet NNW of the Waterford Harbor Visitor Center. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1 Tugboat Alley, Waterford NY 12188, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Upstate New York,

in the Capital District,

and in the Albany Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American Northeast

and in the Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Great North Woods,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Netherland

and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least

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8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Waterford (a few steps from this marker); The Waterways that Shaped a Nation (within shouting distance of this marker); Parsonage of Dutch Church (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Issac Eddy House (about 600 feet away); Flight of Five Locks (approx. 0.2 miles away); Empire State Trail (approx. 0.2 miles away); Breastworks (approx. 0.2 miles away); An Urban Refuge (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Waterford.

Also see . . . Lysander Button. Wikipedia entry (Submitted on March 24, 2018, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)

Additional commentary.
1. Button Fire Engine Works
According to Timothy Starr's Great Inventors of New York's Capital District, the initial fire engine inventions of Lysander Button, genius behind the Fire Engine Works, weren't patented. Therefore, these early enhancements were not documented. Button learned from this and thereafter patented and documented his ideas, which included improving the construction of the fire engine body, keeping it separate from the frame so

Photographed by Howard C. Ohlhous, September 21, 2006

2. Button Park Marker

rough roads wouldn't cause damage, and many more changes that improved the efficiency of the fire engines. He even stopped corrosion by mixing his own metal. The company sold thousands of fire engines both locally and throughout North America, South America, and Europe. —Timothy Starr, Great Inventors of New York's Capital District, Charleston, History Press, 2010.

— Submitted August 14, 2026, by Trudi Jacobson of Slingerlands, New York.

Fire engine, side-stroke water pump, 1872, L. Button & Sons, Waterford, NY image. Click for more information.

Photographed by Larry Gertner

3. Fire engine, side-stroke water pump, 1872, L. Button & Sons, Waterford, NY

Wood Museum of Springfield History website entry
Click for more information.

Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., March 20, 2018

4. Button Park Marker

Second Street Bridge to Peebles Island in background

Credits. This page was last revised on August 20, 2026. It was originally submitted on March 24, 2018, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 511 times since then and 39 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on March 24, 2018, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. 2. submitted on November 7, 2019, by Howard C. Ohlhous of Duanesburg, New York. 3. submitted on July 7, 2025, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. 4. submitted on March 24, 2018, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.