SARATOGA SPRINGS - The archives of the The Saratoga Springs History Museum became a bit more extensive Monday morning.  Matthew Veitch, Republican candidate for city supervisor, gave the museum in the Canfield Casino receipts and legers of the Independent Coal Company dating back to 1910.

Veitch, who grew up on Circular Street, found the documents in a bag in the mid-1980s. He and his group of friends were exploring the woods near the old Van Raalte Mill when they found them behind the old Spa Steel location. He said it's about where the Courtyard by Marriott is today.
Now, 20 years later, the documents resurfaced in his parent's basement. Veitch is on the board of directors of the history museum, so he knew where to bring them.

Jamie Parillo, executive director of the history museum, said most kids wouldn't have saved the bag of receipts. The history museum gets about 100 donations a year, and so far this year mostly Victorian era clothing have been donated.  "It's really cool to have some documents," Parillo said.
The museum has more than 15,000 pieces in the collection plus the 3,000 photos in the Bolster Collection.  Parillo said the items will be archived in the museum and serve different purposes down the road. He said the documents could be used in a display documenting energy sources and companies through the city's history. People could also use them to look up genealogies or do research of energy sources in the city.

"It's a good snatch out of life from almost 100 years ago," Parillo said of the documents.

Before donating the items, Veitch did some research in the library to find out more about the Independent Coal Company.  The coal company was located at 7 Jane St., which is no longer a street in the city, having moved in the 1940s and later merged with another coal company. Jane Street was about where the Route 50 arterial is now.   Coal was the main source of energy in those days, and Veitch said it's interesting to see how things were almost 100 years ago.  Each receipt and leger was hand-written and stamped for approval. Deliveries to residents, businesses and amount delivered were all documented. Veitch joked that all that would be on a disk these days. The deliveries went to once-huge hotels like the U.S. Hotel and Congress Hotel.

"It's pretty interesting stuff," Veitch said. "It's good to give back to the community."