About This Location
The Canfield Casino was built in the late 1800s and opened as the Saratoga Club House, an upscale gambling establishment that attracted the wealthy elite to Saratoga Springs. The ornate building in Congress Park served as a gathering place for society's upper crust during the Gilded Age. Though gambling ceased long ago, the building now serves as a museum and event venue, preserving its Victorian grandeur.
The Ghost Story
The paranormal reputation of Canfield Casino is well-established. Visitors report the smell of cigar smoke wafting through rooms where no one is smoking. Objects that were secured for the night are found moved by morning. Sudden, inexplicable temperature drops occur throughout the building. The most common apparition is a woman in Victorian dress who roams the hallways, believed to be a wealthy patron who perhaps lost more than money at the gaming tables. Staff closing up at night hear footsteps above them in empty rooms. The casino's connection to gambling, with all its associated high emotions of triumph and despair, seems to have created a supernatural residue.