Research

Local History Resources


The Saratoga Room, located on the second floor, houses the main body of the Library's local history collection. Books, pamphlets, clippings, and other written sources tell the story of Saratoga Springs' colorful and unique history. To complement these, there are photographs, prints, posters, scrapbooks, and audio-visual materials which help bring this history to life. We also have a few items that have been digitized and can be found on the Library of Congress: American Memory website collection.

Saratoga Room Hours

Day Hours
Mon, Thu 7pm - 9pm
Tue, Fri 2pm - 5pm
Wed 9am - 1pm
Sat 12pm - 4pm
...or by appointment, please call extension 254.

Our Saratoga Room Databases page is an in-house project undertaken by staff of the Saratoga Room to give a better idea of materials and articles available in the Saratoga History Room of the Saratoga Springs Public Library. You can browse through information on both items and old articles that are contained within our collection.

The Saratogian Index is an in-house project undertaken by the library staff. The Saratoga Springs Public Library's index to The Saratogian begins on January 1, 1999 and is ongoing. It currently has a one-month lag. Items included in the index are births, deaths, marriages, and engagements and items of local interest to the community.

For history and genealogy sites see our History and Genealogy Links.

Some resources can be found elsewhere on the second floor. These include:

  • Copies of the most popular and general histories of Saratoga Springs can be found in the Reference and non-fiction circulating areas.
  • A complete set of City Directories is shelved in the Reference area.
  • Saratoga newspapers on microfilm, dating as far back as 1840 with some gaps, can be viewed and copied on self-service reader/printers. Also available on microfilm are the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps and Durkee's Epitaphs of Saratoga County

The Saratoga History Roundtable provides a list of categories searched most often along with the "best source" for answering questions in those categories. Part 1 of the list is where to find information on People/family history, Historic Sites, Springs/mineral waters/Spa, Buildings/architecture, and Photographs of Saratoga Springs places and people. Part 2 of the list contains information on Government/laws, Business records, Horse racing, Battle of Saratoga (1777), and Personal papers. If you are planning to do research "on-site", at these organizations, please phone or write ahead for an appointment.

For contacting history related organizations, visit the History Roundtable page. For contacting the Saratoga Library History Room staff, see below:

Phone: 584-7860 extension 255
Email: Contact Form