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Saratoga Springs
Saratoga Springs Magazine
Saratoga Springs Community and Businesses

East Side

The East Side is the grid of tree-lined residential streets east of Broadway, running from Lake Avenue down past Caroline Street and Union Avenue toward the racetrack. In the 19th and early 20th centuries it was where the city’s well-off year-round residents built their houses, many of them scaled-down versions of the summer mansions on Union Avenue, sometimes by the same architects. The East Side Historic District, listed on the National Register in 1982, covers about 114 acres of it. The houses are mostly Victorians, colonials and four-squares on narrow lots with carriage-house alleys behind them, and most of downtown is a walk away.

Where it is

The historic district is bordered by Union Avenue on the south, Congress Park on the west and Broadway to the northwest, and its eastern edge pushes almost to the stables at Saratoga Race Course. Lake Avenue (Route 29), Caroline Street, Circular Street and Fifth Avenue are the main streets people use to describe it. Downtown is a few blocks west, and Union Avenue forms the south edge. It is all inside Saratoga Springs city limits.

What to know if you’re moving here

The East Side is what many people picture when they picture Saratoga Springs. That picture comes with older houses and the upkeep that goes with them.

  • Most houses date to the late 1800s and early 1900s. Local architect R. Newton Brezee, who lived on the East Side himself, designed a number of them, including 105 Lake Avenue in 1884 and 75 Caroline Street in 1885.
  • Much of the neighborhood sits inside a local historic district, so exterior changes go through the city’s design review process.
  • Lots are small and driveways are often shared or tucked behind the house, and carriage houses along the alleys are part of the housing stock.
  • Schools are in the Saratoga Springs City School District. Caroline Street Elementary is at 310 Caroline Street, but the district assigns elementary schools by address, so check the attendance zone map for a specific house.
  • The blocks closest to the track get race-day traffic and parking pressure from late July through Labor Day.

What to do if you’re visiting

The East Side is a neighborhood to walk, and the houses are the attraction. Start at Congress Park and head east on Circular Street or Union Avenue.

  • The Batcheller Mansion Inn at 20 Circular Street is a High Victorian Gothic mansion that now runs as an inn, and the first stop on most architecture walks.
  • The Saratoga Farmers Market, run by the Saratoga Farmers Market Association, sets up at High Rock Park, 112 High Rock Avenue, on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings from May through October. In winter the Saturday market moves to the Lincoln Baths in Saratoga Spa State Park.
  • Breakfast at Sweet Mimi’s Cafe & Bakery on Phila Street is a short walk from the west end of the neighborhood.
  • Groceries and a quick lunch are at Four Seasons Natural Foods, 120 Henry Street.
  • Walk east on Union Avenue and you reach the racing museum and the track in about 20 minutes.

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