National Register of Historic Places listings in Poughkeepsie, New York facts for kids

This is a list of amazing places in the City and Town of Poughkeepsie, New York, including the small community of New Hamburg. These places are special because they are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This means they are important to the history of the United States.

Many of these buildings and areas were added to the list after a big study in 1980. That study looked at 59 historic places in Poughkeepsie!

Cool Buildings and Places in Poughkeepsie

Poughkeepsie has many old and interesting buildings. Let's explore some of them!

Historic Homes and Neighborhoods

Many homes in Poughkeepsie tell stories of the past.

Academy Street Historic District

The Academy Street Historic District was the first planned neighborhood in Poughkeepsie. It has many beautiful homes built in the Victorian style.

Balding Avenue Historic District

The Balding Avenue Historic District is another neighborhood with homes from the late 1800s. It was a middle-class area just north of downtown.

Barrett House

The Barrett House was built in 1835 in the Greek Revival style. It belonged to a local artist named Thomas Barrett. Today, it's an arts center where people can enjoy art!

Church Street Row

If you walk along Church Street, you'll see the Church Street Row. This is the largest group of 19th-century brick homes in the city. They show how people lived long ago.

Clinton House

The Clinton House is a stone house built in 1765. People once thought it was the home of George Clinton, who was an important leader. Now, it's home to the Dutchess County Historical Society.

Corlies–Hart–Ritter House

The Corlies–Hart–Ritter House is a Second Empire style house built in 1872. It was home to three families who were very important in Poughkeepsie's music history.

Eastman Terrace

Eastman Terrace is a block of historic rowhouses built in 1872. These homes are a great example of how people lived in the past.

Freer House

The Freer House is a farmer's cottage built around 1728. It's the oldest building still standing in the City of Poughkeepsie! Imagine how much history it has seen.

Garfield Place Historic District

The Garfield Place Historic District has homes from the mid-1800s. These were built for people who became wealthy during the early days of factories and businesses. The street was renamed after President James A. Garfield was assassinated.

Glebe House

The Glebe House was built in 1767 for a local minister. It's another very old house that shows us about Poughkeepsie's early days.

Harlow Row

Harlow Row was built in 1874 by a former mayor, William Harlow. He built these affordable townhouses to help people find places to live.

Hasbrouck House

The Hasbrouck House is a very large Romanesque Revival style house. It's unusual to see such a big house in a city the size of Poughkeepsie. Today, it's the headquarters for the county's United Way.

Maple Grove

Maple Grove is a historic estate from around 1850. It's a beautiful example of the large homes built in that time.

Market Street Row

The Market Street Row is a group of three houses. One of them is the oldest wooden house in the city! They are located across from the Adriance Library.

Important Public Buildings and Landmarks

Poughkeepsie also has many important public buildings.

Adriance Memorial Library

The Adriance Memorial Library was the city's first library building, opened in 1897. It's a beautiful place where people can still read and learn today.

Amrita Club

The Amrita Club building, built in 1922, was home to the city's most important club. It's one of only two brick Colonial Revival buildings in Poughkeepsie that wasn't a home.

Bardavon 1869 Opera House

The Collingwood Opera House and Office Building, now known as the Bardavon Theatre, was built in 1869. It's still a very popular place for concerts, movies, and comedy shows!

Dutchess County Court House

The Dutchess County Court House was built in 1903. It's the third courthouse on this spot, which has been used for legal matters since 1721!

Farmer's and Manufacturer's Bank

The Farmer's and Manufacturer's Bank building is the only Greek Revival building left in the city that wasn't a home. It shows us what banks looked like long ago.

Hudson River State Hospital, Main Building

The Main Building of the Hudson River State Hospital was designed in the High Victorian Gothic style. It was part of a new way to help people with mental illness.

Luckey, Platt & Company Department Store

The Luckey, Platt & Company Department Store was once the only department store in the Hudson Valley between Yonkers and Albany. It was a huge draw for shoppers in downtown Poughkeepsie!

Main Building, Vassar College

The Main Building at Vassar College was built in 1861 in the Second Empire style. This building was the start of a very important college for women in America.

New York State Armory

The New York State Armory is a Romanesque Revival building designed by Isaac G. Perry. Armories were places where military groups trained.

Niagara Engine House

The Niagara Engine House is a firehouse built in 1909. It's the only one of the city's original six firehouses that is still standing. It has a unique Late Gothic Revival style.

Poughkeepsie City Hall

The Poughkeepsie City Hall was built in 1831 in the Greek Revival style. It used to be the main city office, but now it's used for the Commissioner of Jurors Office.

Poughkeepsie Railroad Station

The Poughkeepsie Railroad Station was built in 1918. It looks like a smaller version of the famous Grand Central Terminal in New York City!

Poughkeepsie Savings Bank

The Poughkeepsie Savings Bank is a well-preserved building from 1912. It's built in the neoclassical style, which looks like ancient Greek and Roman buildings.

Poughkeepsie Trust Company

The Poughkeepsie Trust Company building was finished in 1906. It was the first "skyscraper" in the Hudson Valley and had the city's first elevator! Today, it's used by the Dutchess County District Attorney's offices.

U.S. Post Office

The U.S. Post Office was dedicated in 1937 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was from nearby Hyde Park and wanted the building to show off the Dutch heritage of the area, so it was built with fieldstone.

Vassar Home for Aged Men

The Vassar Home for Aged Men was built in 1880 as a home for senior citizens. It served that purpose for almost 100 years! Now, it's used by the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center and other non-profit groups.

Vassar Institute

The Vassar Institute building from 1882 is a great example of Victorian Italianate Gothic style in the city. It's also used by the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center today.

Old Poughkeepsie YMCA

The Young Men's Christian Association building from 1908 is special because it's the only building in the city with a glazed terra cotta facade.

Churches and Religious Buildings

Poughkeepsie has several historic churches.

Church of the Holy Comforter

The Church of the Holy Comforter was designed by a famous architect named Richard Upjohn. It's a landmark that people can see when driving on US 9.

First Baptist Church

The First Baptist Church is another important religious building in Poughkeepsie.

First Presbyterian Church

The First Presbyterian Church is a historic church that has been a part of the community for a long time.

Poughkeepsie Meeting House (Hooker Avenue)

The Poughkeepsie Meeting House on Hooker Avenue is a historic Quaker (Society of Friends) meeting house built in 1927.

Reformed Dutch Church of Poughkeepsie

The Reformed Dutch Church of Poughkeepsie is another significant church in the city.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

St. Paul's Episcopal Church is a church built in 1870 in the Norman-Gothic Revival style.

Second Baptist Church

The Second Baptist Church is the only Greek Revival style church left in Poughkeepsie.

Smith Metropolitan AME Zion Church

The Smith Metropolitan AME Zion Church is a Late Gothic Revival church built in 1910.

Other Unique Places

Hudson River Sloop Clearwater

The CLEARWATER is a Dutch-style sailboat. It started a very important environmental group in the 1970s that worked to protect the Hudson River.

Kimlin Cider Mill

The Kimlin Cider Mill was a barn from the mid-1800s that was turned into a cider mill. It became a very popular place for people to visit for many years.

Locust Grove (Samuel F. B. Morse House)

Locust Grove is the beautiful Italian villa-style estate of Samuel F.B. Morse, who invented the telegraph and Morse Code! The estate has been kept just as it was by later owners.

Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge

The Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge was built in 1889. It's a huge bridge that crosses the Hudson River. It was used by trains for many years, but after being abandoned, it was opened in 2009 as the Walkway Over The Hudson, a New York State Park! You can walk across it and enjoy amazing views.

Springside (Matthew Vassar Estate)

Springside, also known as the Matthew Vassar Estate, has a landscape designed by Andrew Jackson Downing. It's the only one of his designs that still looks mostly as he planned it.

Vassar College Observatory

The Vassar College Observatory was the workplace and classroom of Maria Mitchell. She was a pioneering American female astronomer, which means she was one of the first women to study stars and planets professionally!

Violet Avenue School

The Violet Avenue School is a stone Colonial Revival elementary school built in 1940. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was very involved in its design!

Historic Places in New Hamburg

The small community of New Hamburg, part of the Town of Poughkeepsie, also has its own special historic places.

Abraham Brower House

The Abraham Brower House is a well-preserved Greek Revival home from the mid-1800s. It belonged to an early resident of New Hamburg.

Adolph Brower House

The Adolph Brower House is another Greek Revival home from the mid-1800s. It belonged to an early owner of a lime quarry in the area.

Main Street Historic District

The Main Street Historic District is the heart of New Hamburg. It has many homes from the mid-1800s that are still in great condition.

Shay's Warehouse and Stable

Shay's Warehouse and Stable is an industrial building from 1865. It has some unique artistic touches and is one of the few old factory buildings left in New Hamburg.

William Shay Double House

The William Shay Double House is a duplex (a house with two separate living spaces) built in 1870. It's special because it's very nicely decorated for a building that was meant for everyday living.

Stone Street Historic District

The Stone Street Historic District is a short block of homes from the 1800s that are still well-preserved.

Union Free School

The Union Free School was built in 1875 and was used as a school until 1940. It was the only public building in New Hamburg for a long time.

Zion Memorial Chapel

The Zion Memorial Chapel was built in 1902. It's a later example of a wooden Gothic Revival style church.

Images for kids

• Clark House (Poughkeepsie, New York).jpg

  Clark House

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  Dixon House

• DuBois Farmhouse.jpg

  DuBois Farmhouse

• Hoffman House (Poughkeepsie, New York).jpg

  Hoffman House

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  Moore House

• Mulrien House.jpg

  Mulrien House

• Peter and Karen McComb House.jpg

  Peter and Karen McComb House

• Poughkeepsie Almshouse and City Infirmary.jpg

  Poughkeepsie Almshouse and City Infirmary

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  Poughkeepsie Meeting House (Montgomery Street)

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  Reynolds House

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  Rombout House

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  Soldiers' Memorial Fountain and Park

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  South Hamilton Street Row

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  Travis House

• Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church and Rectory.jpg

  Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church and Rectory

• Upper-Mill Street Historic District.jpg

  Upper-Mill Street Historic District

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  Vassar-Warner Row