Gideon Putnam

Gideon Putnam (April 17, 1763 – December 1, 1812) was an entrepreneur and a founder of Saratoga Springs, New York. He also worked as a miller and built the city's Grand Union and Congress Hotels. The Gideon Putnam Hotel in the Saratoga Spa State Park is named after Putnam.

Putnam was a nephew of revolutionary war generals Rufus Putnam and Israel Putnam. in 1763 in Sutton, Massachusetts. He was one of twelve children. Putnam married 16-year-old Their son Lewis was the "first white child born in Saratoga".

In 1788 the Putnams traveled to Bemis Heights, New York, with Doanda's sister and brother-in-law, Anne (née Risley) and Dr. Clement Blakesley, respectively. Putnam found the land and wood in Bemis Heights to be especially agreeable, so he resolved to stay, constructing a loghouse for shelter. However, in spring of that year, torrential rains swept into the area, and the families were marooned by floods. A neighbor, Zophar Scidmore, came to their rescue in a sailboat. After staying in Scidmore's home for several days, the families departed, following an Indian trail to Saratoga Springs. where 25-year-old Putnam constructed a log cabin adjacent to a freshwater spring. In reflection of his new life, Putnam said, "This is a healthy place; the mineral springs are valuable, and the timber is good and in great abundance, and I can build me a great house". though designated "Putnam's Folly" by locals for its "pretentiousness" The guesthouse was rather conspicuous, for the entire area was blanketed in wilderness. and they instantly sold out. A couple years later, Putnam expanded the hotel, including a parlor, dining room, and ballroom.

Planning the village On his map, which is now extant, Broad street is laid out in front of Union Hall, one hundred and twenty feet in width....At the time he made his map there were three springs discovered near Union Hall. The Congress, Columbian, and the Hamilton. Putnam so laid out his village that each of these springs was left in a public street....Broadway extended south far enough to bring within it the Columbian spring. Congress street he laid out sixty-six feet wide, and this left the Congress spring near the centre of the street, and therefore public property. The Hamilton spring was also left by Gideon Putnam far in the street....Gideon Putnam also contemplated laying out a large public park, to be forever free to the public. — —Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester, History of Saratoga County, New York, with Illustrations Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers with the springs in the center. The springs were to be public—"forever remain open and free to the people". and planted poplars alongside Broad street.

Springs

Putnam uncovered and tubed several mineral springs: in 1806, Washington Spring, in 1805, and lastly, in 1809, Congress Spring. Gradually, more newcomers began visiting the village, so "to accommodate whom he built a bath house near the present Congres Spring". opined in An Analysis of the Principal Mineral Fountains at Saratoga Springs, "It was to Putnam that we are indebted, more than to any other individual for improvements at the Springs, during this period of its history. His enterprise and energy cleared away the forest trees from the adjacent plains, converted the rich pineries into materials and means for the further development of the town, erected public buildings for the accommodation of visitors, opened highways about the town, improved and laid out streets in the village; excavated, tubed and secured the mineral springs.... He was emphatically the man of his day in this locality, and he made such an impression on the place of his choice, that his name must be co-existent with the history of the village which his energy did so much to develop. He possessed a will which no ordinary obstacle could long withstand, and by his exertions the din and hum of civilization soon took the place of the deep and solemn murmur of the primitive pine forest."

Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester declared in History of Saratoga County, New York, with Illustrations Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, "Gideon Putnam was in every sense a remarkable man. Possessed of indomitable perseverance, stern resolution, and invincible energy, he early encountered the trials and privations incident to a pioneer life, and carved out from the primitive forest one of the most beautiful villages in the country, and which has proved one of the most popular places of summer resort. Its broad streets, free fountains, and abundant religious and educational advantages bear testimony alike to his comprehensive ingenuity, his liberality, and his respect for truth. He not only gave the burial-ground to the village, but also the ground for the village academy, and to the Baptist church the ground on which it stands. He made such an impression on the place of his choice that his name must ever stand first among those whose early self-denials and energetic lives have conferred so much upon the village."