Union Avenue Historic District

Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, is a broad, tree-lined street running about a mile and a half east from Congress Park to the Adirondack Northway. Large Victorian mansions with towers, turrets, verandas and shingled or half-timbered detail line the street, and fourteen are described as classic Queen Anne examples. Others show colonial or Italianate details. The district also includes the Saratoga Race Track, whose turreted grandstand and more than 200 structures date from 1864 onward. It ends at Yaddo, a castellated stone mansion built in 1892 by Spencer and Katrina Trask, which became an artists' retreat. The avenue developed as a seasonal resort for the socially prominent, and prosperity from the track supported its houses. Skidmore College later took over many homes as dormitories and classrooms. The district was listed for its architecture, the history of American horse racing, and the artistic legacy of Yaddo. Six buildings are noted as intrusions.