Poughkeepsie

Poughkeepsie, capital of Dutchess county, New York, on the east bank of the Hudson River, 73 miles by rail N. of New York City, is finely situated on a tableland, about 200 feet above the river. The Hudson is here crossed by a steam-ferry, and spanned by an important railroad bridge of masonry, steel, and iron (finished in 1888); the structure rests on six piers—four in the channel—and is 3094 feet in length from anchorage to anchorage, or, including the approaching viaducts, nearly 7100 feet. Over three spans are cantilevers, with arms of 160 feet. The city is well built, with fine public and private edifices; Main Street runs back 2 miles from the river. Poughkeepsie is the largest town between New York and Albany; its manufactures include machinery, iron-ware, silk, boots and shoes, clothing, &c., and it has a rolling-mill, a blast-furnace, and several breweries. Two miles to the north is the Hudson River State Hospital for the Insane, which cost $750,000, and the city contains a number of charitable institutions. But Poughkeepsie has most reason to be proud of its educational facilities. Vassar College (q.v.) is just beyond the eastern city limit, and the town possesses also a collegiate institute, a business college, and several high-class seminaries and academies, besides the public schools. Poughkeepsie was settled by the Dutch about 1680; in 1778 it was the state capital, and in 1788 the New York Convention met here to ratify the constitution of the United States. Pop. (1870) 20,080; (1890) 22,206.