1. Ballstown, 1788. 2. Halfmoon, 1788. 3. Saratoga, 1788. 4. Stillwater, 1789. 5. Charlton, 1792. 6. Galway, 1792. 7. Milton, 1792. 8. Greenfield, 1793. 9. Providence, 1796. 10. Northumberland, 1798. Mountains. TOWNS. 11. Edinburgh, 1801. 15. Waterford, 1816. 17. Wilton, 1818. 18. Day, 1819. 19. Saratoga Springs, 1819. m. Palmertown Mountains. EE. Kayaderosseras. Rivers. C. Hudson River. F. Mohawk. derosseras or Fish Creek. a. Sacandaga. c. Kaya Falls. b. Cohoes. k. Hadley. n. Glens. o. Bakers. Battle Fields. Bemis' Heights. Schuylerville. Villages. BALLSTON SPA. Saratoga Springs. Waterford. Schuylerville. Mechanicsville. BOUNDARIES. North by Warren county; East by Hudson River; South by Albany and Schenectady; and West by Montgomery, Fulton, and Hamilton counties. SURFACE. The surface of this county is much diversified and may be divided into mountainous, hilly, and plain lands. The Palmertown mountains enter the county a few miles west of Glen's Falls, and sink to its general level near Saratoga Springs. The Kayaderosseras range crosses the northwestern corner, and is broken through, in the town of Day, by the Sacandaga river. South of that town, a lateral spur, extending in a southerly direction, unites with Flint Hill of Schenectady county. The hilly portion lies east of the mountains, while the level embraces the eastern and southeastern sections of the county. RIVERS. The Hudson is the main river, forming its eastern and a large portion of its northern boundary line. It receives in its course, from this county, the Sacandaga, Fish creek, and the Mohawk river which waters it on the south. FALLS. The "Great Falls" of the Hudson are formed by the Palmertown mountains crossing this river in the town of Corinth. After a rapid of a mile and a descent of thirty feet, the river has a perpendicular fall of thirty feet more. There is a remarkable sluice 120 yards above, twelve yards long and four wide, through which the great body of the water flows with great velocity. Parts of Glen's, Baker's, and Cohoes falls are also in this county, particular descriptions of which are given under Warren and Albany counties. LAKES. Saratoga lake, at the junction of the towns of Malta, Stillwater, Saratoga and Saratoga Springs, is nine miles long and three wide. The shore immediately around the lake is marshy, rendering it inaccessible except in a few places; the country back rises into lofty ridges and forms a vast an phitheatre fpictures que and cultivated landscape. The fine fish which inhabit its waters, and the game that frequent its banks, are objects of much attraction to the spor sman. The visito 's to the neighboring springs often resort her, and find ample accommodations at the public houses on the western shore. A steamboat plies its waters. Snake Hill projects into the lake from the east, and rises 200 feet above is sufice. Round lake, four miles in circumference, Long lake, in the town of Ballstown, five miles long and one wide, (a beautiful sheet of water, abundantly supplied with fish,) and Owl lake, are the other lakes worthy of notice. The Champlain canal runs through the eastern border of the county. CLIMATE. The county is subject to extremes of heat and cold. The sandy nature of the soil, in the eastern and southern sections, renders the heat of summer intense, while its location at the junction of the Mohawk and Hudson valleys, causes the cold of winter to be equally severe. It is however considered healthy. The principal diseases are of a pulmonary nature. GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. This county comprises primitive, transition, and alluvial formations, and affords to the geologist a rare field of observation and interest. The mountains are primitive in their formation, consisting principally of gneiss, granite, and hypersthene. Fragments of these rocks, corresponding with those in place, in the form of boulders and pebbles, are scattered over the whole county. The transition formation borders the primitive, upon the east and south, and appears in the valley between the great mountain ridges. It consists of pudding stone, sandstone, limestone, argillaceous and graywacke slate, and graywacke. The argillaceous slate, a fragile and crumbling rock, underlies the greater part of the county not included in the primitive region. At the southern termination of Palmertown mountains, two miles north of Saratoga Springs, occurs a bed of oolitic limestone, extending across the valley which separates the Palmertown from the Kayaderosseras mountains. It is the only known locality of this formation in the state. The diluvial and alluvial deposites include the pine plains, extending from the northern to the southern limits of the county. They also cover the transition formation, and border the streams. They consist of sand, clay, marl, and rounded fragments of stone, and in many portions of the county are deposited to an unknown depth. Bog iron ore, magnesia, chrysoberyl, granite, tourmaline, mica, feldspar, apatite, and graphite or black lead, are the principal minerals. But the most remarkable of the mineral productions of this county, are its springs. These are principally acidulous, saline and chalybeate; there are however a few sulphurous waters. There are fifty or sixty of the acidulated mineral springs. They are quite uniform in their temperature, being generally about 50° Fahrenheit. Their composition is also very similar. They contain carbonic acid, and atmospheric air, from thirtyfive to forty cubic inches to the pint of water; and from thirtyfive to seventy-five grains of solid matter, consisting of chloride of sodium, (common salt,) carbonates of soda, magnesia, lime, and iron, and generally iodine and bromine in minute quantities. One or two of the springs contain but slight traces of iron, and iodine in larger quantities. the The principal springs are the Congress, Washington, Putnam's, the Pavilion, Iodine, and Union springs at Saratoga; Public Well, the New Washington, and the Park springs at Ballston Spa. The analysis of several is subjoined.* *The following is an analysis of one gallon (two hundred and thirty-one cubic inches,) of water from the following springs. Their virtues were known to the Indians, but they carefully concealed them from the whites. In 1767, their affection for Sir William Johnson, who had been a long time ill, led them to communicate them to him. They guided him to the High Rock spring, in the town of Saratoga Springs, and the use of the mineral waters for a few weeks, completely restored his health. In 1773, the first attempt was made to establish a house for the accommodation of visitors. It was unsuccessful. The following year, one John Arnold established a rude tavern near the High Rock spring. He was succeeded by one Norton, who, during the Revolution, abandoned his tavern and joined the British army. After several changes, it passed into the hands of a Mr. Bryant, who must be regarded as the first permanent settler. In 1783, General Schuyler opened a road to the High Rock spring* from Fish creek, and the succeeding year built a small frame house near that spring, where he spent five or six weeks every summer, during the remainder of his life. VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. The soil upon the mountainous portion is light and barren, and on the plains, excepting some alluvial bottoms, which are highly fertile, sandy and productive Solid contents in one gallon The gas which it emits in great abundance is pure carbonic acid, probably com bined with a small quantity of atmospheric air. *This High Rock spring is enclosed in a conical rock of tufa (lime) about four feet high and twenty-seven feet in circumference at its base. The water in this is seven feet eight inches in depth, and rises within two feet four inches of the top. |