Glen Springs Sanitarium

The Glen Springs Sanitarium (also known as The Glen Springs) was a hotel and sanatorium located high above Seneca Lake on the western hillsides of the village of Watkins Glen, in Schuyler County, New York. Known in the early 1900s as the "Nauheim of America", it remained a noted landmark of the area until it was demolished in 1996.

The main building of this institution was built in 1872 by Judge George G. Freer, who was born in Marbletown, New York, in January 1809. A lawyer in nearby Ithaca, New York at the time, he first became involved with the history of the area when he came to Watkins in 1851 to defend the Last Will of Dr. Samuel Watkins, the founder of the village. After having successfully proved that Dr. Watkins' widow, Cynthia Ann Cass Watkins, was the legal heir, he soon married the widow, who died shortly after, in October 1853, leaving Freer the sole owner of the vast estate. He quickly opened the first bank in the village and published the first newspaper. Freer went on to hold several civic offices: Village Trustee, President of the Village Board, Supervisor of the Town of Dix in 1863, and became a Judge and Surrogate of Schuyler County in 1869. Judge Freer died April 17, 1878.

One of Freer's greatest ambitions was to open up the beautiful areas of the local Glen to the public. Under his ownership, the Glen at the southern end of the village began operation as a tourist attraction, called Freer's Glen. It was later sold to Mordalven Ells, who opened it to the public in 1863. Ells, born in Fairfield County, Connecticut, in 1823, had moved to Watkins in the 1850s.

In 1906, the State of New York acquired the Glen and opened it as the first State Park with free admission. In 1924, it became one of the Finger Lakes State Parks, now under the control of the New York State Parks Department.

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