Greg B., I'm attaching a Google Street view so everyone can better appreciate your comment. It's not a bad looking corner; but yes, not much there for 'The Visitor's Guide to Saratoga Springs' to gush about now. Your comment raises a question -- in 1904, are those elm trees? If so, they probably survived about 30 more years before Dutch Elm disease killed them.

The impressive display of mature trees curbside suggests that they must have been planted around the time the original incarnation was constructed several decades earlier. Looking at the corner today, there is nothing close to impressive, unfortunately.

I could not figure out what the can-shaped object was on the side of the building, above the veranda -- on closer examination it looks like an electrical transformer. Odd location, I've never seen one strapped directly to a building before, and in such a prominent position, but this being 1904 I suppose it wasn't too unusual.

I was stationed in Saratoga for six months in the 1970s and I do not remember ever seeing this place.

[As noted below, it was torn down in 1946. - Dave]

This incarnation of the United States Hotel was completed in June 1874; the previous one burned down. In 1875 'The Visitor's Guide to Saratoga Springs' gushed with praise. Happily, the review includes basic information such as layout, dimensions, number of rooms, even a paragraph regarding fire protection. I'm booking a small suite high and away from the street to avoid noise and smells.

Dave, thank you for adjusting my comment. I didn't realize I could link to my own photo until I went into edit and saw how you did it. Armed with new knowledge, I've corrected previous posts. I know only a few things well; but I take instruction easily.

Not only did it not burn down, it still exists and still open. Not only that, but it's still a hotel (albeit under a different name).

[Um, no. The United States Hotel was demolished in 1946. - Dave]

•••Oops!••• Mea culpa. I let my guard down on my vetting process. :-)

This elegant resort gave its name to elegant luggage. Well-preserved 19th-century Saratoga trunks are for sale today, likely to become home furnishings because no contemporary traveler wants to wrestle with that kind of bulk.

The luggage gave its name to a 1941 best-seller by Edna Ferber, which became a 1945 film and a 1959 stage musical. Ironically, in these works Saratoga Trunk is a branch railroad line.