Poughkeepsie “Scrapbook” - Dutchess County Historical Society

A DCHS online “scrapbook” is a loose assortment of items related to a topic, rather than a formal exhibition. Items featured here might be pulled together or “curated” like the available maps of Poughkeepsie over the centuries, they might be a recent Collections gift or “discovery,” or generated through conversations in social media such as DCHS Facebook and DCHS Instagram. Anyone having something to share is invited to share it! The topic here is the City & Town of Poughkeepsie. Thank you to Holly Wahlberg and DCHS VP Michael Dolan for invaluable help in identifying, locating and securing important items.

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Histories Maps 1909 Photos Street Names Waterfront Views Movies: 1913 and 1930s Religious Organizations

Goes to new page:

Nelson House

Histories

Short City History 1937

Landmark 1924 “Meaning & Origin of the Word”

Landmark 1904 Platt History

Bee Hive?

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Poughkeepsie Maps

Sources: 1780: Eagle’s History of Poughkeepsie, 1798: NYS Archives, 1799: Eagle’s History of Poughkeepsie, 1799 DCHS Archives, 1834: Library of Congress, 1874: DCHS Collections, 1876: DCHS Collections, 1891 DCHS Collections.

1780

1798

1799

1799 original

1834

1837

1858

1874

1876 North

1876 South

Sanborn 1887 (working to improve image quality, please bear with us)

Poughkeepsie 1891

1929

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History and Origin of Street Names: Research Tools

Above: 1971 DCHS Yearbook article

1801 Street Naming Ordinance

If you know the background history of a local street name, please let us know! Over time we will be publishing updated and complete lists with your input. Thank you!

Catharine Street Related Names

History and Origin of Street Names: Young Street

Private John M. Young was the first of the Poughkeepsie men to die in service in World War One. In 1924, the City so-named the street that bears his name to this day. Private Young’s name is on the 1937 memorial outside of City Hall and on the 1920 memorial inside of City Hall. But if you go back to the 1919 temporary wooden memorial (which is arranged in order of death while later ones are organized alphabetically) you will seen in small print “Giovanni Iondale.” This reflects the fact that Giovanni (sometimes “Iandoli” or “Yeondele”) changed his name when he volunteered to serve in the Army two years before his death. His motivation could have been because he was under-age at the time, and was trying to conceal that fact, and/or he wanted a more “American” sounding name. His father Michael was a blacksmith who continued to live in Poughkeepsie. He had a brother Pasquale, who also lived in Poughkeepsie. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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Poughkeepsie Iron Works by Carmiencke ~ 1856

Below right: Johann Hermann Carmiencke, Poughkeepsie Iron Works (Bech’s Furnace), 1856. Oil on canvas. Yale University Art Gallery. Below left, top to bottom: The Iron Works were located just below where the Mid-Hudson Bridge is located today. 1859 Gillette map, and Google Maps, below. Likely view south from Wheaton Park. Photograph, view from south, looking north at Iron Works (DCHS Collections).

Poughkeepsie Waterfront Looking East from River’s West Bank

Right: 1825, Western View of Poughkeepsie. By C. Bartlett. Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, New York Public Library.

Right: Hover over image for further views.

Hand colored. Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY. [drawattention ID=”10960″]

Right: 1852, View of Poughkeepsie. By B. Hess. Modified from the original for amplification of detail.Â Library of Congress.

Right: 1852, Poughkeepsie from the opposite side of the Hudson River. By Edwin Whitefield. Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, New York Public Library. Below: click on full view icon (box/arrow) for best viewing.