Saratoga Gas, Electric Light and Power Company Complex, Saratoga Springs

The Saratoga Gas, Electric Light and Power Company Complex, located near the northern boundary of Saratoga Springs, is a historically significant industrial site. Spanning seven acres, the site contains two remaining brick buildings from a once-thriving gas-fired power plant that served the growing resort city beginning in the 1870s. It was the city’s first power station and operated for over half a century before gas production ceased in 1928.

The gasholder house, a rare late 19th-century survivor, is a 70-foot-diameter brick structure with a conical slate roof supported by wooden rafters and trusses. Its thick walls extend 23 feet underground for stability. Once vital to the plant, it is now one of only 13 remaining in the Northeast. Evidence suggests a second gasholder once stood nearby.

The substation building, 200 feet south of the gasholder, is a two-story, 75-by-35-foot brick structure with a cross-gabled roof and a stone foundation. Architectural features include pilasters, recessed panels, a corbeled cornice, and large oculus windows. Inside, steel beams and V-trusses support the open space, with a partitioned eastern bay. Modern equipment outside is not part of the site’s historic designation.

The Saratoga Gas Light Company, founded in 1853, built a new plant in 1873 to meet rising post-Civil War demand. Expanded in 1886 with the carbureted water gas process, it merged in 1887 into the Saratoga Gas, Electric Light and Power Company, which supplied street lighting. By 1903, new structures were added, but power production ended in 1911 with the rise of hydroelectric energy.

After coal gas production ended in 1928, most buildings were demolished, but the substation remained in use. Declared surplus in 1992, the site was abandoned until remediation began in 1995. Preservation efforts led to its National Register listing in 2001, with the gasholder relocated on-site. Today, it stands as a historic industrial landmark reflecting Saratoga Springs' energy history.