ON TOUR IN FRANKLIN SQUARE
Attendees brave the heat for a dose of history
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.» History buffs braved the heat Sunday to get a glimpse of the Spa City’s Franklin Square neighborhood on a tour with New York State Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner.
More than a dozen event-goers attended the Wealth & Wellness: Franklin Square walking tour on Sunday morning with Woerner, former executive director of the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, which puts on the Summer Stroll historical tour series.
Woerner led the group from Broadway to Franklin Square and down Franklin Street in Saratoga Springs, sharing facts and tidbits about the architecturally rich historic neighborhood all along the way.
“This was really the first high end neighborhood in Saratoga Springs,” Woerner said to attendees, noting that it was developed in the 1820s and 1830s.
At that time, Saratoga Race Course didn’t yet exist, but the big attraction in the city was the water. “It was really about enjoying the water in Saratoga Springs,” Woerner said.
Tour participants learned about the springs, railroads and hotels of the area and how they all re-
“I like that fact that you can really see the history unfold if you walk through the neighborhood and really look at the buildings. You can start to develop your own understanding of the history.” — Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner
lated to Franklin Square. “It has a lot of connections to the 19th century history of how the society developed,” Woerner said. “The railroads, the spas - it’s very connected in that way.”
Woerner considers Franklin Square one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in the entire Capital Region. “Franklin Square is one of the earliest residential neighborhoods in Saratoga, first luxury neighborhood, and it has probably the largest collection of Greek Revival properties certainly in the city, and I think probably in the whole region,” Woerner said. “So that makes it kind of interesting because you can really look at variations on a particular style.”
She continued, “I like the fact that you can really see the history unfold if you walk through the neighborhood and really look at the buildings. You can start to develop your own understanding of the history.”
Woerner assisted Sunday’s group in identifying and making sense of their observations in Franklin Square on the Summer Stroll tour, which she volunteered her time to guide.
The Summer Stroll event series was founded in 2007 during Woerner ‘s time directing the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation. Today, it’s quite popular with attendees from both near and far.
“I’m just interested in the history of Saratoga,” said city resident Lori Heithoff while taking the tour on Sunday. Heithoff has been to other Summer Strolls in previous years, but this was her first of 2018.
Donald Whitbeck, a first-time participant, came out from Providence to learn about Franklin Square at Sunday’s Summer Stroll. “I really don’t know that much about it,” he said at the start of the tour, “I’m just interested in history.” Throughout the tour, he and other attendees learned lots of local history from Woerner during the interactive lesson.
More information about the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation and its upcoming events is available online at www. saratogapreservation.org. Summer Stroll tours will continue at 10:30 a.m. each Sunday through Labor Day, with topics including The Good Life: North Broadway, Post Time! around the Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga & The Civil War, The Spa Complex, Here Lies Saratoga’s Past: Greenridge Cemetery, Broadway in 1874, Historic Fifth & Madison Avenues and Queen Anne’s Circular Street & Union Avenue.
Tickets, which can be ordered online, are $5 each for Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation members and $8 for non-members. Tours are 90 minutes each and take place rain or shine.