In
1844 the Aldridge Hotel closed and Ballston Spa was no longer as
popular as a resort for visitors. Fortunately, the building
would be reused as a school for boys. Reverend Deodatus
Babcock, rector (minister)of Christ Episcopal Church in Ballston Spa, opened a
classical school for boys in 1825. In 1846 he leased
(rented) Aldridge House and announced in a Ballston Journal newspaper
article that the new school would be open in May.
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Ballston Journal of May 8th: "Ballston Spa
Institute -
A Classical and English School for Boys. Rev. D.
Babcock,
Rector; Theodore Babcock, A.M., and J. H. Babcock,
A.B., assistants. This school is now open in
the
well-known Aldridge House." |
With its large size and many rooms the building was ideal for a
boarding school. Some of the students were from the local
community and others came from all over the state and the country.
The school was
considered a "Family Boarding School" which meant that the
students ate their meals with the rector. It is believed that
the students slept in the rooms once used by hotel guests.
!n 1856, the school was sold to Revered
Nicholas Seeley and Professor
Charles Seeley who ran the Institute until 1859. Then the
school was taken over by Charles and run as a "military
school" until 1864. The last school to operate in the
building was under James Gilmore who used it as a temporary location
for the Ballston Spa Academy in 1865. In 1865 the building was
purchased by Henry Mann.
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Saratoga County
Historical Society
6 Charlton Street
Ballston Spa, NY 12020
(518)885-4000
info@brooksidemuseum.org |
Map, 1856
From T. & J. Slator, Publishers
This 1856 map of a section of Ballston Spa shows the Ballston Spa
Institute, located at the Aldridge House.
Collection of SCHS
(click
here for an enlargement)
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Poem
"In Spa's
romantic, gladsome ville,
With banks and dales and many a hill
Where healing waters erst did give
To sinking life new strength to live;
Beside a lovely, purling stream,
That winds its way through valleys green,
There stands the Institute for youth,
The seat of learning and of truth.
* *
* *
* *
* * *
This Institute whose well-earned fame
A reverend sire and sons sustain,
Gives promise--not far hence the date,
To rank not least among the great;
And future smiling years shall show
What labors well bestowed can do;
And future statesmen here shall rise;
And bards whose fame shall reach the skies."
This poem was written in June, 1849 by a
resident of Charlton in praise of the school.
These two stanzas of the poem appeared in
the Ballston Journal on July 3, 1849
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