When making a list of famous people that have visited the city we can easily start with an impressive list of U.S. Presidents. Starting with Washington in 1783 we can add John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Chester Arthur, Martin Van Buren, Grover Cleveland, Franklin Pierce, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Buchanan, Millard Fillmore, U.S. Grant,

James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Another noted leader, the Marquette De Lafayette; was so committed to America’s efforts in the American Revolution, that he was honored at a ball in Saratoga Springs on his tour of America in 1824. About the same time, the famous Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon and former King of Spain, visited the city and even made an unsuccessful offer to buy land here.

Famous orators like Henry Clay and Daniel Webster all visited our great city. Clay arrived at the United States Hotel and delivered a speech against the presidential candidacy of Martin Van Buren. On August 12, 1840 Daniel Webster gave a speech in Saratoga to a crowd of 10,000 and had the stage collapse during his opening remarks. Unhurt, he popped up from the wreckage and continued his speech for three more hours.

Noted authors like Oscar Wilde, Samuel Clement (Mark Twain), James Fenimore Cooper, and Washington Irving also visited the city. Samuel Clement assisted President Grant to publish his memoirs while staying at Mt. McGregor before his death in 1885. Author Washington Irving and former U.S. Secretary of State and former NY Governor William Henry Seward attended the wedding of Sarah Hardin to Reuben Hyde Walworth in Saratoga Springs in 1851. Washington Irving wrote “Rip Van Winkle,” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” As Secretary of State, Seward helped to make the deal for the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1869.

Musical figures like Chauncey Olcott, and Italian tenor Enrico Caruso all performed in Saratoga Springs. Chauncey had a summer home on Clinton Street called Inniscarra. Olcott was famous for composing the song “My Wild Irish Rose,” and writing the lyrics to “Irish Eyes are Smiling.” Enrico Caruso performed in Saratoga Springs as an operatic tenor. The Grand Union Hotel had added the Leland Opera House in the rear of the hotel in 1865 and it was dedicated by General U.S. Grant on July 4th of that year. The Opera House supported many very wonderful performances in the city. One of the most famous actresses and singers of the late 1800s and early 1900s was Lillian Russell. Lillian was seen in Saratoga many summers with her longtime friend Diamond Jim Brady. Both Lillian and Jim were the toast of Saratoga as well as the subject of many rumors of their possible romantic relationship.

The grand hotels competed to produce great social functions to attract guests for the season. The best food, drink, music and entertainment were found in these grand hotels. The Grand Union Hotel in 1902 had a music director by the name of Victor Herbert. He conducted his famous orchestra and many times new music was composed in the off-season to be introduced at summer balls at respected hotels. At the end of each night’s orchestra concert at the Grand Union, Victor Herbert always strolled the courtyard with security officer Tom Winn, to relax after the rigors of the performance. On one night while walking in the courtyard they heard voices coming from behind a clump of shrubs and the whispered words “Kiss me,” followed a few seconds later with the same voice saying, “Kiss me again.” It is said that this was the inspiration for Herbert to write the two act operetta Mlle Modiste with the hit song “Kiss Me Again.” In 1905 when the musical was a hit on Broadway, Tom Winn received two tickets to the performance with a note from Herbert that said, “Since you were at the birth, I thought you might want to see what it has grown into.”

In 1863 the Saratoga Race Course was founded by John Morrissey with the support of William Travers, Leonard Jerome and John Hunter. Jerome had a daughter named Jennie who later in life married Lord Randolph Churchill of England. Jennie and Randolph had a son they named Winston. In recent times the racetrack has supplied the city with many celebrity sightings from rock stars to top athletes and world class jockeys, trainers and owners.

Saratoga Springs also raised a few residents who became noteworthy in their field of work. City resident, Senator Edgar Truman Brackett’s son, Charles, grew up to be famous in the motion picture industry. As a director, he won three Academy Awards, for the movies Sunset Boulevard and Lost Weekend as well as an Academy Award for lifetime service to the industry. Another Academy Award winner from the city was Monty Wooley, son of W. Edgar Wooley who was a proprietor of the Grand Union Hotel in the late 1890s and early 1900s. As a young boy Monty was permitted to conduct the Victor Herbert Orchestra on the last few days of the summer season and after graduating college went on to a career in acting. Staring in the cinema hit “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” Wooley also won an Academy Award for Best Actor in “The Pied Piper.”

In the 1800s Saratoga Springs was a small city and–depending on the year–had a population of only 6,000 to 11,000 people, yet we attracted large numbers of the rich and famous for the summer season. Even today you never know who you will see, maybe even Dave Matthews. The list of famous visitors is much longer than the space allowed for this article and serves as a point of pride for our wonderful city. It’s safe to say that when they went to Saratoga... sometimes their horse naturally won.