The Hathorn is one of the many sources of spring water in the city.
\u00a92017 Saratoga Photographer.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBy Maureen Werther<\/p>\n
As a lifelong resident of Saratoga Springs, Charlie Kuenzel recalls his childhood, when everyone had a deep understanding of and appreciation for the city\u2019s history and the role the famous mineral springs played in making the city a famous destination.<\/p>\n
People seeking health, wellness and perhaps even the fountain of youth sought out the springs in year gone by.<\/p>\n
Long before the race horses, the high-rollers and the wealthy elite, the bubbling waters that spouted from the ground were revered by the Mohawk Native American tribe, who believed they had restorative and healing qualities. Today, scores of people continue to visit the springs each week, filling\u00a0 bottles and jugs with water to use in a variety of ways.<\/p>\n
Some waters are consumed, while others are used topically as a curative. Proponents of the waters attest to their restorative, revitalizing and healing powers, and different springs are used for issues ranging from intestinal discomfort to acne.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kuenzel, co-owner of Saratoga Tours and a member of the board of trustees of the Saratoga Springs History Museum, cautions that there are no medical studies that claim the waters can \u201cheal.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he said there had to have been some good reasons why the Mohawks would journey to Saratoga each summer for hundreds of years, living by the springs throughout the warm months and bringing it back with them to their encampments for the long winters.<\/p>\n
Kuenzel has become an expert on the history of the springs. He is a retired high school science teacher and runs Saratoga Tours with business partner,David Patterson. The pair have been giving tours of the city for nearly 20 years.<\/p>\n
One of Kuenzel\u2019s undergraduate degrees is in geology, which interested him from the time he was a teen. The geology of the area held particular interest for him, and he calls the set of circumstances that went into the formation of the springs a \u201cperfect storm.\u201d<\/p>\n
A combination of limestone and shale, as well as a \u201cnormal\u201d geological fault caused water to become trapped in the layers of limestone which were capped by the solid shale. The fault created cracks and fissures through which the waters sprung upward, he said.<\/p>\n
The natural carbonation of the water is a result of minerals from the limestone being dissolved. According to literature on the springs, the waters found in Saratoga are unique to this part of the country because of their natural carbonation, their constant 55-degree Fahrenheit temperature, and their \u201cspouting\u201d properties.<\/p>\n
Kuenzel said there were three \u201coriginal\u201d sources of spring water where it naturally bubbled to the surface. The spring located on what is now High Rock was, he said, the \u201creal reason\u201d the Mohawks came to Saratoga.<\/p>\n
They referred to it as \u201cthe spring of the great spirit\u201d or \u201cthe great medicine spring,\u201d according to Kuenzel. \u201cThe name \u2018Saratoga\u2019 itself is a Mohawk term, meaning the hillside of the great river,\u201d added Kuenzel.<\/p>\n
The second great spring is located in Congress Park and was discovered by Nicholas Gilman, who was a congressman from New Hampshire. It eventually became the most famous of the springs and the water was bottled and sold around the world.<\/p>\n
The third spring, known as \u201cOld Red Spring,\u201d became known for its ability to cure skin disorders, and it is still referred to as the Beauty Spring or Beauty Water.<\/p>\n
There are many more springs located throughout the city proper and the surrounding areas, each with different \u201chealing\u201d properties, he said.<\/p>\n
Kuenzel recalled going to play with friends at their homes and drinking the mineral water on a daily basis.\u00a0 For children of a certain era, it was their \u201cjuice boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur mothers would send us on play dates with mineral water. We all drank it. We were raised on it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Kuenzel said his own children were raised drinking mineral water or using it as a topical substance.<\/p>\n
One question that Kuenzel gets often during his tours is, \u201cDo people in this area live longer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have an answer to that,\u201d he said. But he recalls a tour group of ophthalmologists, who said that the elevated level of zinc found in the springs work to reduce the formation of cataracts.<\/p>\n
Kuenzel commented again about the Mohawks. \u201cI don\u2019t think any indigenous group of people would waste their time traveling here if they did not think the waters had a curative power.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Maureen Werther As a lifelong resident of Saratoga Springs, Charlie Kuenzel recalls his childhood, when everyone had a deep understanding of and appreciation for the city\u2019s history and the role the famous mineral springs played in making the city a famous destination. People seeking health, wellness and perhaps even the fountain of youth sought […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-wellness"],"yoast_head":"\r\n
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