unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
The original name for this community was ''New Sour Lake''. The first significant landmark discovery of this area was the
sulfur
Sulfur ( American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur ( Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms ...
-smelling spring by J. F. Cotton in the 1850s. As late as 1865 he tried to establish an
oil well
An oil well is a drillhole boring in Earth that is designed to bring petroleum oil hydrocarbons to the surface. Usually some natural gas is released as associated petroleum gas along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce only gas m ...
on the site, but failed due to inadequate machinery.Saratoga, Hardin County, East Texas /ref>
In the 1880s a man named P. S. Watts wanted to profit from the spring using the unique "medicinal" properties of the water (a popular trend at the time). To draw would-be visitors to the site, Watts changed the name of the site to ''Saratoga'' to replicate the famous resort at
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the United States Census 2020, 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the ...
Spindletop
Spindletop is an oil field located in the southern portion of Beaumont, Texas, in the United States. The Spindletop dome was derived from the Louann Salt evaporite layer of the Jurassic geologic period. On January 10, 1901, a well at Spindlet ...
at Beaumont, the first profitable wells would be drilled at Saratoga. In 1904 an extension of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway was built from Saratoga to Bragg Station. The railroad also created the business opportunity to profit from the
lumber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
industry. The town's population would fluctuate from 1000 in 1925 down to 350 in the early 1950s and back to over 1000 in recent years. Although the Saratoga trunk line running north from the town was dismantled in 1934, new oil wells have been drilled as recently as the early 1990s.
Education
Saratoga is served by the
West Hardin County Consolidated Independent School District
West Hardin County Consolidated Independent School District is a public school district based in the community of Saratoga, Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Cent ...
.
Other information
* Saratoga is the birthplace of country music icon
George Jones
George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...
.
* At the southern edge of Saratoga is a large salt water marsh, created during the oil boom days of the town. Salt water was pumped from the many wells drilled around the town into this wide expanse and made desolate. Flint arrowheads and spearheads can still be discovered around the marsh from an ancient Indian population that once lived there.
* Saratoga also serves as the Big Thicket Association headquarters.