Mineral Springs

Mineral Springs. A Walk Back In Time. , In the early 1800's Saratoga Springs was known as a health resort because of our world famous mineral springs. The mineral springs found in the city are unique in that they are highly mineralized, highly carbonated cold water springs. These qualities make our waters difficult to describe from a geologic prospective. , The rock layers below the city are deposits of limestone and dolomite made in ancient tropical oceans. The rock layers that hold the mineral waters were fractured millions of years ago by earthquakes, forming a "normal geologic fault" that allowed the highly charged mineral water to bubble to the surface in a few places in the city. , These early springs were used by the Mohawk as well as early settlers to the city. Later technology allowed people to drill for more mineral springs to meet the demand of summer visitors., The fault responsible for the mineral springs can be clearly seen in High Rock Park as well as the fact that all the streets going east from Broadway (Lake, Caroline, Phila and Spring Street) are going down the face of the fault., In 2015 the city re-drilled the High Rock Spring which added another spring for use., Quick Facts , - High Rock Spring was the first mineral spring visited by the Mohawk , - Congress Spring in Congress Park was made famous through the efforts of Gideon Putnam and John Clarke. , - By 1900 our city had about 200 mineral springs in operation. , - Excessive drilling for mineral springs depleted the water table. , - State legislation in 1908 limited the number of springs to 17 to protect the resource.