For generations, people have been traveling to Saratoga Springs for its eponymous mineral water springs.
Twenty-one springs jut out of the ground across the city, but none seem to have the same ritualistic fanfare as the State Seal Spring on the north end of Saratoga Spa State Park.
On a hot July day in the middle of horse racing season, dozens of cars are pulled into a paved roundabout surrounding the fountain. Locals and visitors wait with containers for their turn at one of the seven spigots.
They’re all here for the same reason:
“The water, it tastes better than the tap water. It’s not chemicalized,” said Greg Johnson.
Greg Johnson has one jug under the mineral tap. He's been filling up with water from this fountain for decades -- a tradition that predates even the very founding of Saratoga Springs.
As city historian Matt Veitch notes, the name Saratoga is derived from a Mohawk word that translates roughly to "land of the rushing water."
He says people have been rushing to access this water and its famed healing properties for centuries.
"Of course, when Sir William Johnson got here in 1771, that's where they brought him for the healing properties of the water that came out of the High Rock Spring. The cone right in the middle of the woods, right? And so you know that is something that they knew before we knew, and I think it's important to know that in those days even the Native Americans and the people who were here previously were aware of the waters and what they could do. So I think that's something we do have to acknowledge at the end of the day,” said Veitch.
But medicine can be hard to swallow. And, today, while some lap up the famous water and its pungent scent, one newcomer is repelled.
“Oh man, it smells bad,” said Barbara Dul.
But her friend, Paul Marsico, loves it.
“Wow, that’s good stuff,” he said.
Marsico came to Saratoga Springs when he was growing up. He felt obligated to let Dul get a taste.
“If I added like Crystal Light to it, sure, to kind of neutralize the—it has a very high sulfur content. If that could be filtered out…” said Dul.
“Yeah just add all the bad stuff, put it right back in,” said Marsico.
The mineral tap in the state park produces water that tastes more like a penny than a bottle of Poland Spring. The water’s distinct odor lingers as glass bottles are rotated to keep the flow of traffic moving.
Johnson says if you can taste the minerals, you know it’s good for you.
“It’s like my car. If I put milk in that, it ain’t going nowhere. I give it what the manufacturer tells me to give it. And it runs. If we give our bodies what they need, sickness would be wiped out. Doctors don’t like me,” said Johnson.
Like so many others, Tammy VanWagner keeps coming back to the water. It's something of an acquired taste.
“I like to drink it but I like the strong stuff. I grew up on it! My mother always kept it in the refrigerator. We’d fill up jugs and keep it in the refrigerator. You get used to it,” said VanWagner.
