117 Grand Avenue, 1927
When I first came to Saratoga Springs I always noticed one particular building when stopped at the intersection of Franklin Street, Grand Avenue and Congress Street, 117 Grand Avenue. It stands taller with its steeply pitched roof and has much more detail than the other buildings that surround it. It was only when I joined the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation that I learned the unique history of the building and that the Foundation had played the pivotal role in saving it.
This example of High Gothic Victorian architecture – built between 1884 and 1888 – once served as the headquarters and depot of the Adirondack Railroad Company. The railroad was founded by magnate Thomas C. Durant while he was working to complete the eastern half of the First Transcontinental Railroad. The Adirondack Railroad Company was chartered in 1863 to haul iron ore out of the Adirondacks and later carried passengers as well. The first locomotive to arrive at the new depot was the “General Hancock”, named for a general who was killed in the battle of Gettysburg. In 1901, it was the Adirondack Railroad Company that arranged for a special train to carry Vice President Theodore Roosevelt from North Creek to President William McKinley’s deathbed in Buffalo.
The railroad operated at this site until it went bankrupt in 1902. The Delaware and Hudson Company took over the line and the federal government subsequently laid 20 miles of new track to haul lead needed for making ammunition during World War II. After the line was abandoned in the 1960s, a former employee of the railroad took up residence in the house. Later, the building would be home to the Tillman family who raised their twelve children in the home.
117 Grand Before Rehabilitation, Year Unknown
The Adirondack Train Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Twenty years after it was listed, the building had fallen into extensive disrepair. It could only be entered by crawling through a window and wading through piles of garbage. Fortunately, most of its charming interior – including the original fireplace, wood ceilings, and wainscoting – was still intact.
Three years after deciding to embark on a campaign to save the building by converting it into low-income housing for the elderly, the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation took title to the building in June, 1991. The Foundation selected this derelict, yet historically significant building for two reasons: to address the need for housing for elderly low-income members of the community and to spur economic development in the West Side neighborhood. Assisted by grants from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal, and other funding sources the Foundation undertook a major $300,000 rehabilitation that would adaptively reuse the building for shared housing for six elderly low-income residents as well as provide office space for the Foundation. The building served as the office of the Foundation until 2007 when it was sold. The privately-owned property is now back on the tax rolls and is currently home to commercial offices.
Today, 117 Grand Avenue stands as an impressive example of community commitment, economic development, and historic preservation. This February will mark the 20th anniversary of the hard work and persistence it took to save and reuse this building, a milestone of the Foundation’s history. The rehabilitation of historic buildings throughout the West Side continues, building on the energy that saved 117 Grand Avenue.
117 Grand Ave, 2005
The next time you stop at the intersection of Franklin Street, Grand Avenue, and Congress Street, imagine it is 1890 and a locomotive has just pulled up along the side of the building and what it must have been like to look out the large arched windows in anticipation of an exciting journey north to the Adirondacks.
See It Yourself
The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation continues its series of Sunday Strolls this morning, Sunday, July 15, with a tour of the city’s historic West Side, which will highlight the history of Franklin Street to Beekman Street, including the former Adirondack Train Station. Led by Margie Van Meter, the tour will start at 10:30 a.m. at the entrance to the Gideon Putnam Cemetery, the oldest extant burial ground in Saratoga Springs, located on Franklin Street. Cost: $5 for Foundation members and $8 for non-members. To learn more, please visit our website www.saratogapreservation.org or call (518) 587-5030.