Washington Spring (Bust of Washington)

Washington Spring Co.

(Bust of George Washington)

Ballston Spa
N.Y.

C (Reverse)

Simon B. Conde and John Brown, Ballston Spa, New York

Emerald Green Pint

Provenance: Dave Merker Collection

The Washington Spring bottle, with the pictorial George Washington embossing, is an exciting and historically significant bottle cherished by collectors as Washington actually visited the region and the springs. As you might suspect, his image appears on other historic bottles including medicines, flasks, and bitters. See the museum examples of Simon’s Centennial Bitters and General Washington – Eagle historical flask, among many others in our museum.

There is a temptation to confuse Washington Spring in Saratoga Springs with Washington Spring in Ballston Spa, New York. Our museum example is from the latter.

The waters of Ballston Spa were part of what was known as the “Hudson River Slate,” encompassing the population centers of Albany, Argyle, Saratoga, and Ballston. Colonel Humphries, an officer of the Revolution, reported that the springs along the Kayaderosseras were great favorites of the soldiers, and that “the waters were in large measure substituted in the place of intoxicants, and less drunkenness existed” when the troops were in the area.

Colonel Humphries, an officer of the Revolution, reported that the springs along the Kayaderosseras were great favorites of the soldiers, and that “the waters were in large measure substituted in the place of intoxicants, and less drunkenness existed” when the troops were in the area.

Lost Railroads of the Kaydeross Valley

The village of Ballston Spa was located about six miles from the village of Saratoga Springs. In 1807, the legislature of the state passed an act incorporating the settlement at the springs, embracing one square mile, by the name of the Village of Ballston Spa.

The first mineral spring was located in a marsh at the bottom of an embankment near the present-day intersection of Ballston Ave. (Rt 67) and West High Street. In 1771, surveyors spied a bubbling spring near present-day Gordon’s creek. They had been hired to calculate the boundaries of the Kayaderosseras patent. They had just discovered the first mineral spring in America.

It was about this time that Rev. Eliphalet Ball settled in the area. Others followed buying tracts of land and setting up homesteads. This included Peter Ferris, Benajah Douglass and Nicholas Low from New York who would eventually build the famous Sans Souci Hotel.

The American Revolutionary War would halt town development though it would commence again after the peace treaty with Britain in 1783. With improvements to the town, the springs formed the foundation of a classic spa resort that was sought out by the sick, invalids and also the wealthy and fashionable.

About this time, several new springs were discovered from the ones that were already known. They differed little except the content of sulfur. The named springs at that time were Sulphur Springs, Low’s Well, Park Spring, San Souci Springs, and the Public Well. The Old Iron Spring was drilled by the village of Ballston Spa to a depth of 647 feet in 1874. It is not to be confused with the Public Well which was an Artesian well discovered by Beriah Palmer in 1771.

After major rains in the summer of 1817, a small stream that passed through the village burst its source and formed a new channel that would reveal, after the flood subsided, what would become Washington Spring. It issued from a circular opening several feet in diameter and brought forth an immense quality of water with all the characteristics of strong mineral water. A tube was inserted to prevent outside water and clay impurities to interfere which caused the water to rise nearly 30 feet to the surface and bubble up and project five feet above the brook. From there it was captured into a pool that was level with the eye allowing the inspection of the water and its sparkling properties. The sale of this water to the public was quick as Lynch & Clarke advertised in New York City that they were constantly receiving fresh supplies of Congress and other waters from Saratoga and the Washington Spring at Balston. (The Evening Post, September 14, 1821)

In History of Saratoga County, N.Y. by Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester, 1878, we see that Washington Spring was situated near the railroad embankment (at the west end of Van Buren Street). Trying to rejuvenate the spring from the previous years of diminishment, it was drilled to a depth of six hundred and twelve feet in the summer of 1868. Simon B. Conde and John Brown were the drillers and proprietors and erected a fine building over the spring that sat on a tract of seven acres of land, that extending up the wooded slope to the fairgrounds.

Simon Conde was the top driller in the area and sunk most of the wells in Ballston Spa. He was understood to have been the author of the article in “Appleton’s Encyclopædia” upon artesian wells.

In the 1871 Gazeteer and business directory of Saratoga County, N.Y. we see a listing for J. S. Smith who was both an agent for National Express Co. and Washingon Spring Co. By then, the Washington Spring Co. had been formed to bottle and distribute the water. This endeavor didn’t last long for a number of reasons including a shift in favor to Saratoga Springs, the depletion of the wells and probably the fear of the Congress and Empire Spring Co. taking them to court.

Our museum example of a pint Washington Spring bottle (Tucker S-61) is in a beautiful emerald green glass. It is corked and contains the original contents. The bottle is very whittled, cylindrical, and has an applied sloping collared mouth with an underlying ring and a smooth base. The bottle would have been blown in a two-piece hinge mold. The embossed copy reading ‘WASHINGTON SPRING CO.’ in a horseshoe arch appears on the front around a picture embossing of the bust of George Washington. Embossed copy reading ‘BALLSTON SPA, N.Y.’, in two straight horizontal lines, anchors the above graphics.

The bottles were probably made at the Congressville Glass Works. There are no known quarts but there is a currently unique example of an aqua pint shown in the support images.

There is a prominent ‘C’ outline embossed on the reverse of the bottle. This stands for “Conde” as Simon B. Conde was the man who drilled the well and organized the company. It may have been a smart marketing trick as well, seeing that the popular Congress Spring bottle also sported a large block letter C.

The subject Washington Spring bottle (S-61) was used from 1868 until 1875. In 1876, the bottle was changed over to the S-62 mold where the bust of Washington mold was removed and replaced with one stating the discovery of “Lithia.” Many of the local springs had their water analyzed by local experts. In 1875, it was discovered that both the Washington Spring in Ballston Spa and the Artesian Spring in Ballston Spa was rich in Lithia. This was the latest medical craze and both springs seized the opportunity to promote it with their bottles. In 1890, the Washington Spring Co. changed its mold again and converted to a single tapered lip treatment (S-63). This bottle was in use until about 1896.

Primary Image: The Washington Spring bottle imaged on location by the FOHBC Virtual Museum midwest studio led by Alan DeMaison.

Reference to: A Short History of Ballston Spa, New York, Excerpted from the book “Lost Railroads of the Kaydeross Valley” 2007-2008 by Timothy Starr

Reference to: History of Saratoga County, N.Y. by Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester, 1878

Reference to: An analysis of the mineral waters of Saratoga and Ballston, 1831 by John Honeywood Steel

Join: The Saratoga type Bottle Collectors Society. Request information at jullman@nycap.rr.com