Template:Wp-Ballston Spa, New York-History

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The village was first settled in 1771. In 1787 Benajah Douglas, grandfather of 1860 presidential candidate Stephen A. Douglas, built the first tavern and hotel at Ballston Spa. It was located near the natural spring.

In 1803, Ballston Spa's Sans Souci Hotel, at the time the largest hotel in the United States, was built by Nicholas Low. Presidents, senators and governors stayed there, as well as many wealthy private citizens. Ballston Spa was incorporated as a village in 1807.

At one time, the village was served by four railroads: the Delaware and Hudson Railway, the Ballston Terminal Railroad, the Schenectady Railway Company, and the Hudson Valley Railway.

The village was famous for its mineral water spring used for healing in sanatoria, including the Hawthorne and Lithia springs.

The effervescent water, tonic, and cathartic from this city is also known as Ballston Spa. The liquid contains common salt and carbonates of magnesium and calcium.

Movies and books

Portions of the novel The Last of the Mohicans were written by James Fenimore Cooper in the present day Brookside Museum and inspired by the local landscape.

The village was the model for the village of North Bath, NY, the setting for the 1993 best-selling novel and 1994 movie, Nobody's Fool. The book's author, Richard Russo, is a native of nearby Gloversville. It was also the location of the fictional "Elspeth Hatch" murder trial defended by Clarence Darrow set in 1897 in the book titled The Angel of Darkness by author Caleb Carr.

Several scenes in Sydney Pollack's 1973 film The Way We Were were filmed on Ballston Spa's Front Street. Scenes from The Horse Whisperer (1998) were also filmed in the village.

Since 2008 Ballston Spa has been home to the Ballston Spa Film Festival of short films from around the globe.

Ballston Spa was also mentioned in the 1963 novel The Tulip Tree by Howard Rigsby.

Museums

Ballston Spa is home to the National Bottle Museum. It is also home to Brookside Museum, Saratoga County Historical Society.

The Brookside Museum, United States Post Office, Union Mill Complex, and Verbeck House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Industry

In 1838 the Ballston Spa National Bank, one of the oldest still functioning American banks was founded. In 2015, the bank opened its 11th branch.

George West (known as the "Paper Bag King") developed a line of square-bottomed paper bags which he manufactured by the millions after the American Civil War, and at one time owned almost a dozen paper mills located along the Kayaderosseras Creek. The village was also home to the Ballston Knitting Company from 1918 to 1994.

As the county seat of Saratoga County, county offices, courts, law enforcement, and the jail are major employers.

Government

Recent mayors of Ballston Spa:

• Christine Fitzpatrick (2021–present)
• Larry Woolbright (2020–2021)
• John Romano (1995–2020)
• James Capasso Jr. (1991–95)
• Bert Grandin (1983–91)
• James Capasso Sr. (1971–83)