Incorporated Village
March 21, 1807 - Incorporation
The first election was held in the newly incorporated Village, and in December, lands for streets were ceded by Nicholas Low and Joshua B. Aldridge, and new streets were laid out, including what is today Science, Bath, and Low Street.
The Post Office
The first record of a post-office is a certificate of appointment of Joshua B. Aldridge as "Deputy Postmaster at Ballstown Springs, NY." It is dated November 30, 1797. April 1st, 1798, Mr. Aldridge was appointed postmaster at Ballston Springs, the Post Office Department having dropped the "w." On July 28, 1825, the name was changed to Ballston Spa, and June 18, 1829, the "Spa" was dropped, th post office being simply "Ballston." Efforts were made at different times to have the "Spa" restored, so that the names of village and post office would match, but without effect, until in 1890 the publisher of the Ballston Journal took the matter up with the Department in Washington. His efforts were successful, an on May 16, 1890, the post office name was made identical with that of the village - Ballston Spa.
First Publicly Funded School
The village trustees met on April 24, 1811, and voted to raise the sum of $1,400 "by a tax on the inhabitants and freeholders of this village to be appropriated at the discretion of the Trustees for defraying the expense of erecting a school house in the said village suitable and convenient for a common school." Nicholas Low donated the land and a large two-story building was erected that year. It was located at the head of Science street. Science street itself was created to provide access to the school.
First Fire Company
At a public meeting held January 27, 1815, the citizens decided to build an engine house and purchase a fire engine, and directed the village Trustees to organize a Fire Company. The first company was organized August 15, 1818, and took the name of Fire Engine Company, No.1. Engine House No.1 was first located on the southwest corner of Bath and Walnut streets, and in 1845 was moved across Bath street into the building that today holds the Police Department and Village Court.
Courthouse & County Seat
In 1796 the first county courthouse was built on Middle line two miles south of Ballston Spa; but when it burned in 1813, the question of a new location for the County Seat was raised. Mr. Low lobbied to have it brought to Ballston Spa, and it was built eventually built on High Street, on land ceded by him on June 5, 1817 for that purpose. Building the courthouse here brought the public county business to Ballston Spa, and made it very largely the political, as it is the official, center of the county.
First Newspaper
The first number of the first newspaper published in Saratoga County was issued at Court House Hill (Ballston Spa), on June 14, 1798, under the name of Saratoga Register or Farmer's Journal. The name of the paper has changed several times, but has been known as "The Ballston Journal" since 1847.
First Book
The first book ever printed in the county was from the press of the Childs (The Ballston Journal) in 1798. It was entitled "A plain Account of the Ordinance of Baptism; in which all the texts in the New Testament relating to it are proved, and the whole Doctrine concerning it drawn from them alone."
Railroad
The event of greatest importance in the development and growth of the village was the building of the Saratoga and Schenectady Railroad, which was begun in 1831 and completed in 1832, and the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad, built in 1833, from Troy to Ballson Spa. These were respectively the second and third steam railroads in the State, the first road being from Albany to Schenectady.
Plank Roads
In January, 1848, the village gave permission to the Schenectady and Saratoga Plank Road Company to construct a plank road in Ballston Spa, through Balston street to High street; to Court, to Front street, to Milton avenue, and through Milton avenue to north line of the village.
Telegraph
The first telegraph office was opened in the Railroad Station in 1853, nine years after Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the first telegraphic message from Washington to Baltimore. The first system of telephones was established in the village in 1882.
The Water Works
The first franchise for village water works was granted on May 10, 1826. Inhabitants were supplied with drinking water until 1869 by wells and private springs, the water being conducted through wooden logs with a boring two inches in diameter. On July 23, 1868, a public meeting was held and it was voted to bond the village for $20,000 to construct water works. Water mains were laid through the streets, fire hydrants established, and Palmerton reservoir constructed. By 1907 Ballston Spa had a first-class system of water works, and a potable water which ranked among the best in the State.
Gas & Electric
The village was first lighted by gas in 1873, and the electric light was first introduced in 1890. Gas had so largely given place to the electric light by the end of the 19th century, that the gas works were closed in January, 1907.
Brick Pavement
In 1901 the first brick pavement in the village was laid on Front street, from Bath street to Milton avenue. In 1902 a portion of Bath street and Milton avenue were paved with brick; and in 1906, Malta avenue, from Milton avenue to Pine street was similarly paved.