Grand Union Hotel (Saratoga Springs, New York) Informations

The Grand Union Hotel was located on Broadway in Saratoga Springs, New York. The hotel began as a boarding house, built by Gideon Putnam in 1802, but grew into the world's largest hotel, before it was demolished in 1953.

The initial draw to the area were summer vacationers attracted by the mineral spas. Over time this became a luxury hotel that catered to the wealthy elite. Renovations and expansions saw the hotel grow to serve over 2,000 guests as a destination resort. The Grand Union Hotel Stakes race was run at the Saratoga race track until 1958 and was named after this historic hotel.

The Grand Union Hotel, built by city founder Gideon Putnam, began as Putnam's Tavern and Boarding House in 1802. The original building would not have been considered a true hotel, because the concept of a modern hotel was invented by American architect Isaiah Rogers decades later in 1823.[Note 1]

Putnam bought a one-acre building site adjacent to Congress Spring from Judge Walton. The boarding house was finished in 1803. The building was a mortise and tenon clapboard structure that was described as two Federal style houses placed end to end. It had 10 windows across the front, whitewashed exterior, and dark shutters. The structure was 70 feet long, three stories high, and had 70 guestrooms. The original structure most likely contained small private guestrooms, the Putnam's living spaces, and probably a few formal parlors. A large porch was added in 1822, and Gideon's wife, Doanda Putnam, painted a sign for Putnam's Tavern depicting Israel Putnam's famous eradication of the last wolf in Connecticut[Note 2]

During the hotel's early days, it was probably open only during the summer. This was common practice in upstate New York; the similar Sans Souci and Aldridge House hotels in Ballston Spa were also only open in the summertime. The mineral springs, which were purported to have great health effects, were the main attraction for this region and were typically visited only in the summer. Ballston Spa was the original vacation destination, and Putnam hoped to tap into the tourist trade by opening his hotel close to the mineral springs. The first summer that the boarding house was open, it was filled to capacity with 70 guests and was a huge success.

During Putnam's lifetime the building was expanded to over twice its original size. Following Gideon Putam's death in 1812, Doanda oversaw the running over the boarding house until 1836. The name of the boarding house was changed to Union Hall sometime prior to Doanda's death.

In 1836, following their mother's death, Rockwell and Washington Putnam bought their brothers’ and sisters’ interest in the Union Hall and ran the establishment from 1836–1864.

The hotel itself constantly expanded. It retained a “U” shape for most of its existence, with one large section of building fronting Broadway and two large wings extending down the side streets. The entire first floor of the hotel would have been used as public space.

In an advertisement dated 1843, the Union Hall was described as having 400 feet of frontage on Broadway and included “spacious saloons, dining halls, and piazzas, and also the delightful garden and pleasure grounds.” These covered about four acres of land. Congress Spring was about 200 feet to the west of the building. This 1846 advertisement claimed that the building “has again undergone thorough repair, been repainted and otherwise renovated, and an addition of 70 feet has been made to the dining hall, so that it is now capable of seating 450 persons.” The dining hall was over 200 feet in length.

Whether they were original to the complex or later additions, by 1860 Union Hall had a great number of out-buildings, including sundry barns and stables.

The hotel had been renovated to include at least four floors by the 1860s and contained two formal parlors. The piazza out front was three stories high. The main entrance and office was at the center of the Broadway front, in a rotunda, which was 80 feet in diameter and extended to the top of the building, with balconies on each of the five stories overlooking the entrance and grand saloon. To the left of the office were reception rooms and a grand saloon parlor. Beyond the drawing room were smaller private parlors. On the Congress Street wing was the dining hall, which was expanded several times. The dining hall had frescoes and was furnished with mirrors.

The rooms of the hotel were furnished with hand-made, elegant furnishings. There were several suites for family use.

Summertime at Union Hall was meant to be an event of epic proportions. The dining hall had elaborate meals every day, “it is like attending a dinner party every day, and a full-dress party every night.” There was frequently dancing in the ballroom following dinner, especially on weekends. The elite came to stay at Union Hall, including millionaires, governors, senators, congressmen, judges, presidents, literary figures, and many others. Dinner menus at the Union Hall (1854) included Vermicilli for soup, for fish baked bass with port wine sauce, boiled leg of mutton, corned beef, chicken with pork, beef a la mode, Phipps ham, beef and tongues. Roasts were beef, veal, saddle of mutton, turkey, saddle of lamp, venison with currant jelly, ducks. Entrees included chicken pie French style, mutton with vegetables, rice croquettes flavored with wine, Ficandeau of veal, tomato sauce, breaded lamp chops, broiled pigeons, a la Americans, stewed mutton with potatoes, casserole de Ris a la Finacore, macaroni Italian style. Pastries included pineapple pie, apple pie, charlotte russe a la vanilla, and deserts were raisins, almonds, walnuts, nuts, nutmeg, melons, oranges, apples, and watermelons.

In the 1840s, the United States hotel was built by Elias Benedict. For many years, Union Hall and Congress Hall were the most spectacular hotels in Saratoga Springs. When the United States Hotel was built, it passed the Union Hotel in prestige and beauty. The hotel industry was incredibly competitive, and there became a constant need to make improvements, enlargements, and more ornate decorations to the hotels in order to remain competitive in the market and to draw the richest, most elite clientele.

Warren Leland, Charles Leland, George E. Leland, and Lewis Leland bought the hotel in 1864. During this period of time, the Grand Union Hotel reached the pinnacle of its popularity and fame. The Leland brothers were already well-known hotel proprietors and also owned additional hotels in the area, such as Montgomery Hall. Under the direction of the Leland brothers, the hotel saw constant improvements and enlargements in order to respond to the growing competition in the hotel industry. The hotel grew to four stories with incredibly ornate interiors.

The Leland brothers changed the hotel's name to Union Hall (1864) and then the Grand Union Hotel (1869).

The exterior of the hotel morphed until it reflected the Second Empire architectural style. This style was reflected in the ornate mansard roofs with slate shingles (added in 1870), cornices at the tops of the roofs and brackets under the eaves. There were four large rectangular towers with one being larger than the others by one floor and rotunda on the top. All four towers had dormer windows on the top floor and flags flying high on the tops of each tower. There were classical columns along the piazza. The ornamentation was designed to make the structure appear huge, imposing, and expensive.

The Leland brothers’ first order of business was to erect a 1,600 seat opera house on the grounds of the Union Hotel, near Federal Street. The Opera House opened on July 4, 1865, and General Ulysses S. Grant, hero of the Civil War and subsequently President of the United States was present for the opening. On either side of the Opera House were erected what were called “cottages,” which were like private houses clustered together and provided private and spacious accommodations for the very wealthy.

The dining room was one of the focal points of the hotel's design. The hall was expanded several times until it was able to seat 1000 people, the tables placed across the room at intervals of five feet and a 10-foot passageway down the middle of the room. The dining room was expanded after the Civil War years to serve up to 1,400 people at a time.

A billiards room and reading-rooms were added in later expansions. Also, there was a wine storage room purported to be worth $50,000.

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