West Side Historic District

West of Broadway in Saratoga Springs lies a neighborhood of roughly 500 buildings that served as the home of the city's year-round residents while wealthy tourists stayed on the East Side. Its irregular street pattern comes from two street alignments, Church Street and Van Dam Street, and from early land divisions among the Walton, Putnam and Waterbury holdings. The railroad, opened in the 1830s, made Franklin Square a focal point. Most buildings are houses on lots with 50 to 60 feet of frontage, typically one to two stories, with the gable end facing the street, a side-passage plan, rear ells and a full-width front porch. Outbuildings such as stables and garages follow the same form. Later houses grew larger, and bungalows appeared in the 1930s, but the basic form lasted into the twentieth century. Siding has mostly been replaced, so form, plan, porches, wings and window patterns determine which buildings contribute. The district includes 87 resources already listed in the Franklin Square Historic District.