Canfield Casino and Congress Park is a 17-acre (6.9 ha) site in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. It was the site of the former Congress Spring Bottling Plant and the former Congress Hall, a large resort hotel, which together brought Saratoga Springs international fame as a health spa and gambling site. The Canfield Casino is one of Saratoga Springs’ most treasured landmarks. The building was built as a gambling casino by John Morrissey. John Morrissey was born in 1831 and grew up in Troy, New York. He ended up in New York City and became part of Boss Tweed’s Tammany Hall network. The enchanting and historic Canfield Casino is the perfect backdrop for a wedding or special event. Why not reserve the Casino for your big day or next big event? Situated in Congress Park, in downtown Saratoga Springs, the Canfield Casino is close to everything, making it the perfect location for you and your guests. The Canfield Casino is only booked for one event per day and must be booked.

In 1883, Richard Albert Canfield took a partnership in the Saratoga Clubhouse in Saratoga Springs, New York and bought it outright the following year for $250,000. Business was lucrative and he became an extremely wealthy man. Canfield was recognized as the King of the Gamblers; Saratoga Springs was seen as the American Monte Carlo. However, anti-gambling sentiments increased in the first decade of the 20th Century. Canfield was forced to close his New York City casino, paying a stiff fine.

Canfield Casino Saratoga Springs Ny

Significant dates
Front (south) elevation and west profile, 2008
Location	Saratoga Springs, NY
Coordinates	43°4′44.68″N73°46′56.28″W / 43.0790778°N 73.7823000°WCoordinates: 43°4′44.68″N73°46′56.28″W / 43.0790778°N 73.7823000°W
Area	17 acres (6.9 ha)
Built	1825
Architectural style	Renaissance Revival
NRHP reference #	72000910, 87000904
Added to NRHP	June 19, 1972^[1]
Designated NHLD	February 27, 1987^[2]

Canfield Casino Saratoga New York Hotels

Canfield Casino and Congress Park is a 17-acre (6.9 ha) site in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. It was the site of the former Congress Spring Bottling Plant and the former Congress Hall, a large resort hotel, which together brought Saratoga Springs international fame as a health spa and gambling site. At the peak of its popularity it was a place where the wealthy, major gamblers and stars of the entertainment world mingled. The park's artwork includes a statue by Daniel Chester French and a landscape design by Frederick Law Olmsted, among others.

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987^[2]^[3] after having originally been submitted and listed as the Casino-Congress Park-Circular Street Historic District in 1972.^[4] The later listing excluded some of the property outside the park and halved the overall size of the district.

Congress Park is currently operated by the City of Saratoga Springs as a park, bounded by Broadway, Spring Street, and Circular Street in Saratoga Springs. The Canfield Casino building, built in 1870, houses the Saratoga Springs History Museum. Gambling was ended by reformers in 1907.^[3]

2Property

Canfield Casino Saratoga New York Weather

Geography[edit]

The district boundaries are curved and irregular, generally following those of the park itself. It is bordered by Spring Street on the north and Circular Street (both part of NY 9P), down to its intersection with Park Place. It follows the 300-foot (91 m) elevationcontour line on the west, excluding some of the buildings on Broadway (US 9/NY 50) southwest of the park and then joins Broadway south of Union Avenue, back to its northwest corner at Spring Street.^[3]

The original historic district included some houses on Circular and Spring streets and Whitney Place. Their removal from it made the district about 16 acres (6.5 ha) smaller^[4]

A short, narrow street, named East Congress Street (because it extends Congress Street from Broadway on), runs across the park from east to west. There are parking spaces along both sides. Stone walls set off the park from the nearby street. The section north of the road is dominated by the casino and parkland around it, the section to the south is primarily hilly parkland.

This area is a buffer between the developed commercial areas at the south end of downtown Saratoga Springs, and the residential neighborhoods on the east and west. Many of the surrounding areas are also included in the city's other historic districts. The Broadway Historic District is just to the north, with the East and West Side districts on either side. Union Avenue is also a historic district out to the racetrack.

Property[edit]

The two major historical resources on the property are the casino and the park. The former is the only surviving building from the resort era; the latter has many notable art objects in addition to its landscaping.

Casino[edit]

The casino's main block is a three-story building faced in brick on an exposed basement. It is topped by a flat roof, bordered by an ornate bracketedcornice. On the south (front) facade the brick around the doorway and at the corners is laid to look like rusticated stone. A belt course divides the first two floors.^[3]

All three stories have sandstone window trim with a different treatment — segmented pediments on the first, triangular ones on the second and rectangular on the third. A free-standing segmental pediment distinguishes the roofline on the front center as well.^[3]

The east wing, used for gambling when the casino was constructed, is a two-story, three-by-five-bay structure with front windows one and a half stories high. It has a similar window treatment to the first story of the main block, and a more elaborate cornice, also with central segmented pediment.^[3]

To the north is the dining room and kitchen wing, a 93-by-58-foot (28 by 18 m) steel frame brick structure. At either end are stained glass windows depicting horses in different historical periods.^[3]

Inside, the entrance opens onto a central hall with staircase. The office and library are on the west. To the east the original dining room opens onto the gambling room. Private gambling rooms were upstairs, and living quarters on the third floor.^[3]

Old postcard of dining room

Saratoga Springs Canfield Casino History

The gambling room has many of its original interior details, including mirrors and statuettes. The dining room roof is of riveted arches supported on columns. Its barrel vaulting has octagonal coffers. The parquet flooring is original, and the early air conditioning system of wall vents and the open coffer windows still works.^[3]

From 1959 until into the first decade of the 21st century Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney and Marylou Whitney, and then after the former's death, Marylou hosted a racing season opening gala at the casino which was often over the top and known for Marylou's grand entrances.^[5]

Park[edit]

Congress Park
Type	Public park
Location	Saratoga Springs, New York
Area	17 acres (6.9 ha)
Created	1913
Operated by	City of Saratoga Springs
Open	Year round
Website	[1]

The basin-shaped park contains Grecian pavilions around the springs, Ita