Saratoga Springs (formerly, Bachelor Springs and Pierson Springs) is a set of springs that was turned into a resort in the 1870s in Lake County, California, United States. At its peak, the resort could accommodate 250 people. The resort was closed after the main hotel burned down, but reopened as a retreat in 1991.
Contents
Location
Saratoga Springs is located 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Upper Lake.
It is at an elevation of 1427 feet (435 m).
The town of Saratoga Springs was originally located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north of its present location.
The springs are on the side of a wide, brushy drainage ravine.
They are about 2 miles (3.2 km) as the crow flies from the Witter Medical Springs.
They are 22 miles (35 km) east of Ukiah and 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Upper Lake.
The springs are in the Scotts Creek watershed.
Springs
The resort had 12 small mineral springs, of which 11 were on the slopes 100 to 150 yards (91 to 137 m) east of the hotel.
Six of these rose in cemented basins in the Roundhouse, a circular building 15 feet (4.6 m) in diameter.
Their combined flow is perhaps 1.5 US gallons (5.7 L; 1.2 imp gal) per minute.
They are all carbonated and deposit small amounts of calcium and iron, and have names like Appetizer and Digester.
There were four other springs rising in cemented basins near the Roundhouse.
Their water was collected in a tank and used for bathing.
About 75 yards (69 m) north of the Roundhouse a sulfur spring issued from the base of a bank of dark, crushed shale.
It gave about 1 US gallon (3.8 L; 0.83 imp gal) per minute of strongly sulfureted water.
The twelfth spring seeped from massive sandstone 2⁄5 mile (0.64 km) up the ravine from the hotel.
A 1914 report said the main springs and their temperatures are: Magnesia 1, 59 °F (15 °C); Magnesia 2, 61.5 °F (16.4 °C); Arsenic, 60 °F (16 °C); Sulphur, 60 °F (16 °C); Soda, 61.5 °F (16.4 °C); Iron, 61.5 °F (16.4 °C) and Seltzer, 59 °F (15 °C).
The water was not bottled for sale.
History
Before the resort was founded the springs were frequented by the Pomo, who used the valley for healing and peacemaking.
The first owner of what became the resort was J.W. Pearson, who found the springs in a wooded valley of the foothills in 1871.
He filed a preemption claim for 160 acres (65 ha) in 1874, and built a hotel and several cottages around the mineral springs.
In 1878 Pearson sold the property, then known as Pierson Springs, to J.J. Kerbert.
The U.S. government finally issued a patent for the land in 1879.
Soon after John Marhten acquired the property, which he ran until he died in 1913.
Marhten made many improvements including a new hotel, annexes and more cottages.
By 1891 the resort could accommodate 350 people, with a barn for 40 horses.
At its peak the resort covered 260 acres (110 ha) and had a stagecoach stop, post office, restaurant and dance hall.
It offered multiple cold mineral springs for bathing and a bottling plant for drinking.
Guests from the San Francisco Bay Area would reach the resort by taking a train to Cloverdale, then a stagecoach via Ukiah.
In 1910 there were accommodations for 250 people in the hotel, annex and 16 cottages set in an oak grove in a small flat area beside the creek.