Author: Thomas Dimopoulos

SARATOGA SPRINGS — New year, new challenge. 

Lifelong Saratoga resident Joe Bokan has always had a hankering for the local springs. 

“The springs have always been important to my family, with many of us routinely taking mineral baths at the Roosevelt bath house. I grew up drinking the springs and so have my kids,” says Bokan, a long-time promoter of the springs, and who in his decades-long role as owner and innkeeper at Anne’s Washington Inn has encouraged inn guests to try the springs by giving out maps of the park, as well as sharing his personal recommendations. 

His favorite? Coesa, he says – which like most of the springs is located in the Saratoga Spa Park. A handful of others flow through the Congress Park and High Rock Park areas downtown, each with their own varying levels of sodium, potassium, lithium and other minerals.  

New this year – Anne’s Washington Inn, which is located at 111 South Broadway, has organized a Saratoga’s Springs Challenge.  “I thought, like the high peaks challenge, we could do something similar for our springs,” says Bokan, adding that there is no deadline regarding the challenge, and can be done whenever time permits. 

It was a tour of the springs with dowser and spring water expert Trent Millet, that first inspired Bokan to action.   

“I was so surprised how few Saratogians and visitors knew anything at all about our springs,” Bokan says. “It had had me thinking: how can we as a community better promote something so important to our health and history?” 

Last summer, he came up with the idea of a bucket-list type of challenge that involved friends and guest at the inn with the springs, and coincided with the 80th year that the inn has been in the Bokan family. 

The Inn’s main Victorian-style building was originally built for John B. Thompson, a wealthy New York City businessman who bought and developed 11 lots in the area. Constructed in 1885, the grounds sited a hospital in the early 20th century before becoming an inn operated under the direction of the Bokan family in the 1940s. 

As for the springs, it is the Mohawk tribes generally credited for heralding the waters as having special healing powers after discovering the mineral waters bubbling through the earth’s cracks. During the centuries that followed the springs were later used by private industries before Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s guidance ushered in the development of an architectural spread to mimic the great spas of Europe. 

For more information, including a checklist of springs, individual videos, and a submission page for the Saratoga Springs Challenge, go to: https://www.anneswi.com/springs-challenge.  The site also features special edition shirts for sale, with all proceeds donated to benefit the springs’ volunteer and preservation groups.  

SARATOGA — With Paris Hilton present in the House Chamber gallery supporting an unrelated cause, the House of Representatives on Dec. 17 approved an original Saratoga County Board of Supervisors request to rename the Saratoga National Historical Park as the Saratoga National Battlefield Park.

“That was the original park’s name and a unique identifier,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Phil Barrett said during the board’s approval of the resolution during its meeting in June, requesting the U.S. Congress and the National Park Service consider the name change as the park commemorates the Battles of Saratoga.  

“The term ‘Battlefield’ more accurately reflects the historical significance of the site, emphasizing the crucial military engagements that took place (and) will enhance public understanding and appreciation of its historical importance,” stated the measure. 

The site was originally named the Saratoga Battlefield Park, but “battlefield” was left off when it became a national park in the late 1930s. 

“We believe that is a prudent step to provide tourists and visitors with something more obvious to review and know relating to the description of the park itself,” said Barrett, after the Supervisors’ 20-0 vote was approved to send the request off to Congress. 

“I am proud to see my legislation renaming this historic site ‘Saratoga National Battlefield Park’ pass the House today with bipartisan support,” Congresswoman Elise Stefanik said, speaking on the House Floor Dec. 17 while advocating for the Strengthening America’s Turning Point Act bill to rename Saratoga National Historical Park to Saratoga National Battlefield Park. “This change will more accurately reflect the historical significance of the site as the turning point in the Revolutionary War and one of the most decisive American battles of the American Revolution.”

Stefanik introduced the bill to The House in July on behalf of herself and Congressman Paul Tonko. 

Currently, Stefanik currently represents New York’s 21st Congressional District, which this most recent election cycle – slated to go into effect Jan. 20, 2025 – included the town of Saratoga in the 21st district. The town of Saratoga is where the majority of the handful of Saratoga National Historical Park sites are located – Victory Woods, Saratoga Monument, Surrender Site, and Schuyler House, among them.  

Tonko represents New York’s 20th Congressional District – which includes the battlefield location in Stillwater

 The bill, H.R. 8931, anticipates the renaming to be inclusive of those handful of Saratoga National Historical Park sites, not just the battlefield. 

History tells us American troops engaged in combat with the British army at Freeman’s Farm in September 1777, and at Bemis Heights a few weeks later. Overall, approximately 22,000 forces engaged in the battles with nearly 1,500 estimated casualties, according to the American Battlefield Trust. The American victory persuaded France to sign a treaty with the United States against Britain.

The year 2027 will mark the 250th anniversary of the battles at Saratoga, two battles which historians have called the turning point of the American Revolution. 

The Board of Supervisors resolution specified no budget impact would be felt at the county level related to the renaming. It is not known what costs may be incurred overall related to potential new signage, letterhead or other necessary material changes, or who will pay for them. An inquiry was sent to the National Park Service requesting information related to those potential costs.