Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the

Town of Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the Town of Poughkeepsie, is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 45,471. The name is derived from the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. It is the county seat of

Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later org ...

, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the

Hudson River Valley The Hudson Valley or Hudson River Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to Yonkers in Westch ...

region, midway between the core of the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

and the state capital of Albany. It is a principal city of the

Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area The Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, is an area consisting of two counties in New York (state), New York's Hudson Valley, with the municipalit ...

which belongs to the New York combined statistical area. It is served by the nearby

Hudson Valley Regional Airport Hudson Valley Regional Airport , formerly known as Dutchess County Airport, is a county-owned public-use airport located on State Route 376 in the Town of Wappinger, Dutchess County, New York, United States, south of the central business distr ...

and

Stewart International Airport New York Stewart International Airport – colloquially known as Stewart International Airport, is a public/military airport in Orange County, New York, United States. It is in the southern Hudson Valley, west of Newburgh, south of Kingston ...

Orange County, New York Orange County is a List of counties in New York, county located in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 401,310. The county seat is Goshen (village), New York, Goshen. This count ...

. Poughkeepsie has been called "The Queen City of the Hudson". Originally part of

New Netherland New Netherland () was a colony of the Dutch Republic located on the East Coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva Peninsula to Cape Cod. Settlements were established in what became the states ...

, it was settled in the 17th century by the Dutch and became New York State's second capital shortly after the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. It was chartered as a city in 1854. Major bridges in the city include the Walkway over the Hudson, a former railroad bridge which reopened as a public walkway in 2009; and the

Mid-Hudson Bridge The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Mid-Hudson Bridge is a toll bridge, toll suspension bridge which carries U.S. Highway 44, US 44 and New York State Route 55, NY 55 across the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie, New York, Poughkeepsie and Highland, U ...

, a major thoroughfare built in 1930 that carries

U.S. Route 44 U.S. Route 44 (US 44) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that runs for through four states in the Northeastern United States. The western terminus is at US 209 and New York State Route 55 (NY 55) in Kerhonks ...

. The city of Poughkeepsie lies in

New York's 18th congressional district New York's 18th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in New York (state), New York’s Hudson Valley that contains some of the northern suburbs and exurbs of New York City. It is cur ...

. The City of Poughkeepsie and neighboring Town of Poughkeepsie are generally viewed as a single place and are commonly referred to collectively as "Poughkeepsie", with a combined population of 77,048 in 2020. Poughkeepsie is situated between the Lower Hudson and the

Capital District A capital district, capital region, or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politic ...

regions, and the city's economy is stimulated by several major corporations, including

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

. Educational institutions include

Marist University Marist University is a private university in Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Marist was founded by the Marist Brothers, a Catholic Church, Catholic religious institute, in 1905 to prepare brothers for their ...

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

Dutchess Community College Dutchess Community College (SUNY Dutchess, or DCC) is a Public college, public community college in Dutchess County, New York. It is one of 30 community colleges within State University of New York, the State University of New York system (SUNY) ...

and

The Culinary Institute of America The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is a Private university, private culinary school with its main campus in Hyde Park, New York, and branch campuses in St. Helena, California, St. Helena and Napa, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Singa ...

Etymology

The name ''Poughkeepsie'' is derived from a word in the

Wappinger The Wappinger ( ) were an Eastern Algonquian Munsee-speaking Native American people from what is now southern New York and western Connecticut. At the time of first contact in the 17th century they were primarily based in what is now Dutc ...

tribe's

Munsee language Munsee (also known as Munsee Delaware, Delaware, Ontario Delaware, ) is an endangered language of the Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian language family, itself a branch of the Algic language family. Munsee is one of two Delawar ...

, roughly , meaning 'the reed-covered lodge by the little-water place', referring to a spring or stream feeding into the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

south of the downtown area.

History

English colonist Robert Sanders and Dutch colonist Myndert Harmense Van Den Bogaerdt acquired the land from a local

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

tribe in 1686, and the first settlers were the families of Barent Baltus Van Kleeck and Hendrick Jans van Oosterom. The settlement grew quickly, and the Reformed Church of Poughkeepsie was established by 1720. The city of Poughkeepsie was spared from battle during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and became the second capital of the State of New York after

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

was burned by the British. In 1788, the Ratification Convention for New York State included

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

John Jay John Jay (, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, diplomat, signatory of the Treaty of Paris (1783), Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served from 1789 to 1795 as the first chief justice of the United ...

, and George Clinton. They assembled at the courthouse on Market Street and ratified the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

, and New York State entered the new union as the eleventh of the original

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...

to become the United States. In 1799, a new seal was created for the city. The community was set off from the town of Poughkeepsie when it became an incorporated village on March 27, 1799. The city of Poughkeepsie was chartered on March 28, 1854. Poughkeepsie was a major center for whale rendering, and its industry flourished during the 19th century through shipping, millineries, paper mills, and several breweries along the Hudson River, including some owned by Matthew Vassar, founder of

. Wealthy families such as the

Astors The Astor family achieved prominence in business, society, and politics in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries. With German roots, some of their ancestry goes back to the Italian and Swiss Alps, the Astors ...

, Rogers, and

Vanderbilts The Vanderbilt family is an American family who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthr ...

, built palatial weekend homes nearby due to the area's natural beauty. The Vanderbilt Mansion is located several miles up the Hudson from Poughkeepsie in the town of Hyde Park and is registered as a national historic site; it is considered to be a sterling example of the mansions built by American industrialists during the

Gilded Age In History of the United States, United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mar ...

of the late 19th century. Locust Grove, the former home of Samuel F.B. Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, is nearby. The city is home to the

Bardavon 1869 Opera House The Bardavon 1869 Opera House , in the downtown district of Poughkeepsie, New York, United States, is the oldest continuously operating theater in New York State. Designed by J.A. Wood, it was built in 1869 and served as a venue for various per ...

, the oldest continuously operating entertainment venue in the state.

Geography

The city of Poughkeepsie is located on the western edge of

, in

Downstate New York Downstate New York is a region that generally consists of the southeastern and more densely populated portion of the U.S. state of New York, in contrast to Upstate New York, which comprises a larger geographic area with much sparser population d ...

's Hudson River Valley Area. It is bordered by the town of Lloyd in

Ulster County Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. The count ...

across the

to the west and by the

town of Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the Town of Poughkeepsie, is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 45,471. The name is derived from the ...

on the north, east and south. There are two crossings of the Hudson River in Poughkeepsie: the

for motor vehicles and pedestrians, and the pedestrian Walkway over the Hudson. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has an area of , of which is land, and (comprising 10.05%) is water. Poughkeepsie lies approximately north of the center of the New York megacity. It is south of the New York state capital of Albany. The highest elevation of Poughkeepsie is above sea level on College Hill. Its lowest is on the Hudson River. Poughkeepsie makes up a part of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan statistical area, which is a part of the wider NY-NJ-CT combined statistical area.

Historic districts

* Academy Street Historic District * Balding Avenue Historic District * Dwight-Hooker Avenue Historic District * Garfield Place Historic District * Mill Street-North Clover Street Historic District *

Mount Carmel District The Mount Carmel District (or Area) is a historic neighborhood in Poughkeepsie, New York named for Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and its associated (now defunct) school. Location The neighborhood is located on Poughkeepsie's north side. It ro ...

* Union Street Historic District

Climate

Poughkeepsie has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dfa'') with relatively hot summers and cold winters. It receives approximately of precipitation per year, much of which is delivered in the late spring and early summer. Due to its inland location, Poughkeepsie can be very cold during the winter, with temperatures dropping below a few times per year. Poughkeepsie can also be hit by powerful

nor'easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below) is a large-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. Typically, such storms originate as a low ...

s, but it usually receives significantly less snow or rain from these storms compared to locations towards the south and east. Extremes range from on January 21, 1961, to on July 15, 1995.

Demographics

The

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

's 2018 estimates placed the population at 30,356. There were 14,240 housing units. 39.8% of Poughkeepsans were

non-Hispanic white Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...

, 36.4% were Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian or Alaska Native, 1.2%

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

, 5.0%

multiracial The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races (human categorization), races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity, ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used ...

, and 0.3% from some other race. An estimated 15 persons were of

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

heritage according to 2018's estimates. Hispanic and Latin Americans collectively made up 17.1% of the city's inhabitants.

Mexican Americans Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

and

Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans (), most commonly known as Puerto Rico#Etymology, Boricuas, but also occasionally referred to as '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borinqueños'', '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borincan ...

made the two largest groups of Hispanic and Latin Americans in the city, followed by Cubans and others. In 2018, there were 12,627 households, out of which 19.8% had children under the age of 6 living in them. 56.1% of households has children from 6 to 17 living with them. 14.0% of householders aged 65 and older lived alone. The average household size was 2.33. A total of 6,606 families lived within the city of Poughkeepsie and the average family size was 3.21. The median household income from 2014 to 2018 was $42,296 and the mean income was $60,763. At the 2010 census there were 32,736 people. The population density was . There were 13,153 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 52.8% White, 35.7% Black or African American, 10.6% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 1.6% Asian, 0.4% Native American, 5.3% from other races, and 4.1% from two or more races. There were 12,014 households, out of which 28.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.8% were married couples living together, 19.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.4% were non-families. 35.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.15. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.9% under the age of 18, 12.2% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.0 males. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

in the city was $29,389, and the median income for a family was $35,779. Males had a median income of $31,956 versus $25,711 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,759. About 18.4% of families and 22.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.3% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those age 65 or over.

Religion

Per ''

Sperling's BestPlaces Bertrand T. Sperling was born in 1950 in Brooklyn, New York. He is an author and researcher. His books and studies on quality of life in America have made him "an internationally recognized expert in cities." Work Studies Sperling is commissi ...

'', nearly 54% of Poughkeepsie and its surrounding area have

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

affiliation. The largest Christian organization is the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

(37.8%), served by the

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the New York (state), State of New York. It encompasses the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island in New York ...

. The second and third largest Christian organizations are

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

(2.6%) and

Presbyterianism Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

(2.0%), and fourth, Anglicanism/Episcopalianism (1.7%). Anglicans or Episcopalians within the city limits and surrounding area are primarily served by the

Episcopal Diocese of New York The Episcopal Diocese of New York is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing three New York City boroughs and seven New York state counties.

. The fifth largest Christian group is

Pentecostalism Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

(1.3%), followed by

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

(1.1%), the

Baptist Church Baptists are a denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers ( believer's baptism) and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches generally subscribe to the doctrines of ...

(0.9%), the

Latter-Day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(0.3%), and Christians of other denominations including the

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

and

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...

(2.7%). The second largest religious group outside of Christianity is

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

(2.4%). The Islamic community primarily identifies with

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

in the area. Following Islam, 0.8% of the population profess

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

and 0.1% practice an

eastern religion The Eastern religions are the religions which originated in East Asia, East, South Asia, South and Southeast Asia and thus have dissimilarities with Western religions, Western and Traditional African religions, African religions. Eastern religions i ...

Economy

As of 2020, the dominant industries in Poughkeepsie are

healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

, and

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

. The arts community is part of the current wave or revitalization in Poughkeepsie with creative people moving from New York City and elsewhere, affectionately called "Poughkipsters."

has a large campus in the adjacent

. It was once referred to as IBM's "Main Plant", although much of the workforce has been moved elsewhere in the company (2008). The site once built the

IBM 700/7000 series The IBM 700/7000 series is a series of large-scale (Mainframe computer, mainframe) computer systems that were made by IBM through the 1950s and early 1960s. The series includes several different, incompatible processor architectures. The 700s ...

of computers as well as the

IBM 7030 Stretch The IBM 7030, also known as Stretch, was IBM's first transistorized supercomputer. It was the fastest computer in the world from 1961 until the first CDC 6600 became operational in 1964."Designed by Seymour Cray, the CDC 6600 was almost three tim ...

computer and later, together with the Endicott site,

IBM mainframe IBM mainframes are large computer systems produced by IBM since 1952. During the 1960s and 1970s, IBM dominated the computer market with the 7000 series and the later System/360, followed by the System/370. Current mainframe computers in IBM' ...

s. The RS/6000 SP2 family of computers, which came to fame after one of them won a chess match against world chess master

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...

, were also manufactured by IBM Poughkeepsie. In October 2008, IBM's Poughkeepsie facility was named "Assembly Plant of the Year 2008" by the editors of ''Assembly Magazine''. Poughkeepsie remains IBM's primary design and manufacturing center for its newest mainframes and high-end

Power Systems IBM Power Systems is a family of server computers from IBM that are based on its Power processors. It was created in 2008 as a merger of the System p and System i product lines. History IBM had two distinct POWER- and PowerPC-based hardwar ...

servers, and it is also one of IBM's major software development centers for

z/OS z/OS is a 64-bit operating system for IBM z/Architecture mainframes, introduced by IBM in October 2000. It derives from and is the successor to OS/390, which in turn was preceded by a string of MVS versions.Starting with the earliest: ...

and for other products. Until 1972, Poughkeepsie was home to the

Smith Brothers The Smith Brothers were makers of the first cough drops produced and advertised in the United States, becoming one of the most famous brands in the country in its day. History William Wallace Smith I (1830–1913) and Andrew Smith (1836–189 ...

cough drop factory. The Smith Brothers' gravesite is in the

Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery The Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery is a rural cemetery located in Poughkeepsie, New York and includes the gravesites of several notable figures. It also has a crematory. The forty-four acres of land used for the cemetery were purchased by Matthew Vas ...

Government

Media

Poughkeepsie and Dutchess County are within the

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...

of the New York—New Jersey—Connecticut combined statistical area, though the city is headquarters for The ''

Poughkeepsie Journal The ''Poughkeepsie Journal'' is a newspaper based in Poughkeepsie, New York, and owned by Gannett, which bought the paper in 1977. Founded in 1785 (though not a daily newspaper until 1860), the ''Journal'' is the oldest paper in New York state, ...

'', the third-oldest active newspaper in the United States. ''Poughkeepsie Journal'' is owned by

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as several ...

News 12 News 12 may refer to: *KSLA-TV Shreveport, Louisiana *News 12 Networks, 24-hour local cable news television network in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York *WRDW-TV Augusta, Georgia {{disambig ...

Hudson Valley is a regional television channel targeting Poughkeepsie and the Hudson Valley region. FM radio stations in the area are: *

WRRV WRRV (92.7 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Middletown, New York, and serving Orange County, including parts of the mid Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountains. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts an alternative ...

-96.9 (alternative rock) *

WPDH WPDH (101.5 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York, and serving the Hudson Valley and Catskills. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts a classic rock radio format. Its studios and offices are on ...

-101.5 (album-oriented rock) *

WRHV WRHV (88.7 FM) is a classical music-formatted radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by WMHT Educational Telecommunications and is a satellite of Schenectady's W ...

-88.7 (classical music, and

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

affiliate) *

WCZX WCZX (97.7 FM) is a radio station licensed to Hyde Park, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and broadcasts at 300 watts ERP from the Illinois Mountain master tower in Marlbor ...

-97.7 (country) *

WKXP WKXP (94.3 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Kingston, New York, and serving the Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and it broadcasts a soft adult contemporary radio format from its radio stud ...

-94.3 (soft adult contemporary) *

WRWD-FM WRWD-FM (107.3 Hertz, MHz, "Country 107.3") is a country music radio station licensed to Highland, Ulster County, New York, Highland, New York, and primarily serving the mid-Hudson Valley of New York. The station broadcasts at 330 watts effective ...

-107.3 (country) *

WSPK WSPK (104.7 FM, "K104.7") is a contemporary hit radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York. Its studios are located on NY 52 Business in the town of Fishkill (with a Beacon address). It is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and transmits from ...

-104.7 (top 40) *

WHUD WHUD (100.7 FM) is an adult contemporary music radio station licensed to Peekskill, New York, United States. The station is owned by Pamal Broadcasting and broadcasts at 50,000 watts ERP. Its transmitter facility is located in Philipstown, Ne ...

-100.7 (adult contemporary) *

WDST WDST (100.1 Hertz, MHz), branded as "Radio Woodstock 100.1", is a commercial radio, commercial FM broadcasting, FM radio station licensed to Woodstock, New York, and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley. Radio Woodstock is known as a progressive rock, p ...

-100.1 (independent rock) *

WPKF WPKF (96.1 FM, "Kiss FM") is a top 40 (CHR) radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and broadcasts from a tower mounted on the roof of the ...

-96.1 (top 40) *

WVKR WVKR-FM ''(Independent Radio)'' is a college radio station owned by and primarily staffed by students of Vassar College in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York. The station broadcasts on 91.3 MHz at 3,700 watts ERP from a tower in Milton, Ne ...

-91.3 (Vassar College Radio) *

WRNQ WRNQ (92.1 FM "Q92") is a commercial radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York state. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and broadcasts an adult contemporary radio format, switching t ...

-92.1 ('80s to current music) AM radio stations in the area are: *

WEOK WEOK (1390 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York and serving the Mid-Hudson Valley. The station is owned by Townsquare Media and airs a Spanish language in the United States, Spanish adult hit ...

-1390 (oldies) * WGNY-1220 (sports) *

WHVW WHVW (950 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Hyde Park, New York. It airs an eclectic format based on Americana music, pop hits, classic country, adult standards, blues and oldies. It is independently owned by J.P. Ferraro, with stu ...

-950 ('50s and older blues and country) *

WKIP WKIP (1450 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Poughkeepsie, New York. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, and broadcasts at 1,000 watts from a two-tower array adjacent to its studios in the Arlington section of the Town of Poughkeep ...

-1450 (talk radio)

Education

The Poughkeepsie City School District is the public K–12 school system, serving approximately 5,000 students. The

Oakwood Friends School Oakwood Friends School is a Private school, private, independent, co-educational Boarding school, boarding and day school located at 22 Spackenkill Road in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. With roots going back to Nine Partners Boarding Sch ...

is a co-ed boarding and day school serving approximately 170 students, grades 5–12. Located about north of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, it is the oldest

college preparatory A college-preparatory school (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily design ...

school in New York State, founded in 1796. Oakwood was founded on the Quaker principles of Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship. The school's vibrant community nurtures the spirit, scholar, artist, and athlete in each student.

Poughkeepsie Day School Poughkeepsie Day School is an independent, progressive, coeducational school in the mid-Hudson Valley serving students from a broad region of New York and Connecticut from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. History Founded in 1934, it was init ...

, also outside the city, is a progressive co-ed pre-K-through-12 day school serving approximately 140 students, founded in 1934 by local families and members of the Vassar College faculty. Other private schools in the area include Tabernacle Christian Academy and Our Lady of Lourdes High School.

Spackenkill Union Free School District The Spackenkill Union Free School District, also known as Spackenkill School District, is a New York school district in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York. It includes a majority of the Crown Heights and Spackenkill census-designated places ...

, comprising generally the southern part of the town of Poughkeepsie, consists of Hagan Elementary School, Nassau Elementary School, Orville A. Todd Middle School, and

Spackenkill High School Spackenkill High School is a 9-12 public high school part of the Spackenkill Union Free School District located in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. It is a part of the Spackenkill Union Free School District. In 2018, it was nam ...

Arlington Central School District The Arlington Central School District (abbreviated ACSD) is one of thirteen public school districts serving residents of Dutchess County, New York. The district was created in 1924. Organization Coverage area The district's territory covers s ...

, covers substantial parts of Poughkeepsie as well as parts of the towns of Beekman, La Grange, Pleasant Valley, and

Union Vale Union Vale is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 4,558 at the 2020 census. The town is in the south-central part of the county. It is part of the Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie–Newburgh, NY Metropolitan Statistica ...

Colleges and universities

There are no institutions of higher learning operating within the city limits, however

, Marist College, and

are all located just outside the city in the surrounding

. In addition,

Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York, United States. Adelphi also has centers in Downtown Brooklyn, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County in addition to a virtual, online campus for remote students. As of 2019, it had ...

's Hudson Valley Center located at Mid-Hudson Regional Hospital offers a

Master of Social Work The Master of Social Work (MSW) is a master's degree in the field of social work. It is a professional degree with specializations compared to Bachelor of Social Work (BSW). MSW promotes macro-, mezzo- and micro-aspects of professional social work ...

. Colleges formerly located in Poughkeepsie were the Ridley-Lowell Business and Technical Institute, which closed in 2018, and the

Eastman Business College The Eastman Business College was a business school located in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. It operated from 1859 until it closed in 1931. At the height of its success, the school was one of the largest commercial colleges in the United S ...

(1859-1931).

Public safety

Fire

The city is protected by the career firefighters in the City of Poughkeepsie Fire Department. By keeping buildings up to

code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communicati ...

, controlling illegal occupancies, monitoring the safety of living areas and issuing licenses and permits, the department works to limit the potential for dangerous situations and the occurrences of fire hazards. The Poughkeepsie Fire Department operates out of three

fire station __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire apparatus, fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equ ...

s, located throughout the city, and operates and maintains a fire apparatus fleet of four

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

s, including one reserve engine; two ladder trucks; one rescue vehicle, cross-staffed as needed; and one

fireboat A fireboat or Fire-float Pyronaut, fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with ...

. The Arlington Fire District, Fairview Fire District, and New Hamburg Fire Department cover the surrounding town of Poughkeepsie. The Fire Department is capable of handling fires, rescues, extractions and natural disasters. It is a certified Emergency Medical Services first responder

fire department A fire department (North American English) or fire brigade (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organi ...

and first responder to calls with Mobile Life Support Services.

Police

Police protection to the city is provided by the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department. The police department has over 125 employees, including 96 sworn police officers and 34 civilians, of which 13 are emergency dispatchers. The Police Department also operate a Citizen Observer Alert Network to keep citizens informed about local crime, emergency situations, and other important information. The Dutchess County Sheriff Station is based in Poughkeepsie and is adjacent to the Dutchess County Jail, which houses around 250 inmates maximum capacity at any time, with the same number of inmates housed at out-of-county facilities.

Medical

Poughkeepsie is home to

Vassar Brothers Medical Center Vassar Brothers Medical Center (VBMC) (formerly Vassar Brothers Hospital) is a 350-bed not-for-profit hospital overlooking the Hudson River in Poughkeepsie, New York. It is part of the Northwell Health healthcare network and is the major medical ...

, a 365-bed hospital situated next to

U.S. Route 9 U.S. Route 9 (US 9) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway in the states of Delaware, New Jersey, and New York in the Northeastern United States. It is one of only two U.S. Highways with a ferry connection (the Cape May–Le ...

on Reade Place. The hospital has an advanced birthing center and a Level III

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), also known as an intensive care nursery (ICN), is an intensive care unit (ICU) specializing in the care of ill or premature newborn infants. The NICU is divided into several areas, including a critical c ...

. Vassar Brother Medical Center is owned and operated by

Nuvance Health Nuvance Health is an American not-for-profit health system with facilities spanning from New York State's Hudson Valley region to western Connecticut. Nuvance Health was formed in 2019 when Health Quest and Western Connecticut Health Network mer ...

(formerly HealthQuest), a local nonprofit collection of hospitals and healthcare providers.

Emergency medical services Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services, pre-hospital care or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to d ...

are provided by Mobile Life Support Services, which are contracted to provide full-time ambulance coverage to the city. They provide

paramedic A paramedic is a healthcare professional trained in the medical model, whose main role has historically been to respond to emergency calls for medical help outside of a hospital. Paramedics work as part of the emergency medical services (EMS), ...

level service, including

advanced life support Advanced Life Support (ALS) is a set of life-saving protocols and skills that extend basic life support to further support the circulation and provide an open airway and adequate ventilation (breathing). Components Key aspects of ALS level care ...

, and have ambulances stationed in the city on Pershing Avenue. Mobile Life also has a staff of specially trained paramedics that provide tactical Emergency Medical Services support to the city police during ESU/SWAT operations, as well as emergency responses for the Fire Department via their Special Operations Response Team. They also provide advanced life support ambulance service to other agencies and municipalities in Dutchess, Ulster, and Orange counties, and their headquarters building is located in New Windsor in Orange County.

Culture

Sports

The

Hudson Valley Renegades The Hudson Valley Renegades are a Minor League Baseball team based in Fishkill, New York. The High-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Renegades play in the South Atlantic League. The Renegades play their home games at Heritage Financial Pa ...

is a minor league baseball team affiliated with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

. The team is a member of the

High-A East The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its hi ...

, and play at

Dutchess Stadium Heritage Financial Park is a baseball park in Fishkill, New York. Home to the Hudson Valley Renegades, the park originally opened on June 18, 1994. Originally called Dutchess Stadium from 1994 to 2023, it assumed its current name in March 2023 wh ...

in the nearby town of Fishkill. The Hudson Valley Hawks were a team in the National Professional Basketball League until 2009 when the league disbanded. The team's home court was at Beacon High School, located approximately south in the city of

Beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

. The Hudson Valley Highlanders of the North American Football League played their home games at

Dietz Stadium Robert Dietz Memorial Stadium is a football stadium in Kingston, New York. Dietz Stadium is the home field of the Kingston High School Tigers football team. Originally the Kingston Municipal Stadium, in 1954 it was dedicated to Robert H. Dietz ...

in nearby

. Poughkeepsie hosted a founding member of the

North Eastern Hockey League The North Eastern Hockey League was a semi-professional ice hockey league from 2003 until 2008. It was created by entrepreneur Jim Cashman, who served as league president. The NEHL was built to focus on giving players that were not quite ready ...

with the formation of the Poughkeepsie Panthers in 2003. However, due to financial problems, the team only played for one season and became the Connecticut Cougars the following year. The league folded due to financial problems in January 2008. Subsequently, the city was home to the Hudson Valley Bears, one of four founding members of the Eastern Professional Hockey League, for one season. Both teams played their home games at the McCann Ice Arena in the

Mid-Hudson Civic Center Majed J. Nesheiwat Convention Center (formerly the Mid-Hudson Civic Center) is a venue located in Poughkeepsie, New York, consisting of Mair Hall (a concert and convention hall) and the McCann Ice Arena (an ice skating venue). It was built in the ...

One of Poughkeepsie's most notable sports events was the annual

Poughkeepsie Regatta The Poughkeepsie Regatta was the annual championship regatta of the U.S. Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) when it was held in Poughkeepsie, New York from 1895 to 1949. History The IRA was established by Cornell, Columbia, and Pennsy ...

of the

Intercollegiate Rowing Association The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) governs College rowing (United States), intercollegiate rowing between Varsity team, varsity men's heavyweight, men's lightweight, and women's lightweight rowing programs across the United States, whil ...

, which was held on the

from 1895 to 1949. The top college teams would attend along with tens of thousands of spectators. Poughkeepsie was known as the rowing capital of the world. Spectators watched from the hills and bluffs overlooking the river and from chartered boats and trains that followed the races along the entire length of the course; which were longer than present-day races, with varsity eights rowing a race. When the rowing association moved the regatta to other venues, the Mid-Hudson Rowing Association was formed to preserve rowing in the area. It successfully lobbied to preserve the regatta's facilities for use by area high schools and club rowing programs. As part of the 400th anniversary celebration of

Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...

's trip up the Hudson River a recreation of the regatta was held with Marist College Crew as its host. The events included a fireworks display, a large dinner, and the unveiling of the restored historic Cornell Boathouse, now property of Marist Crew. Historically accurate, the four mile long course started off Rogers Point in Hyde Park and ended about a mile south of the Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge. Competitors included Marist, Vassar,

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, Penn,

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

, Columbia and

Cornell Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since ...

. Notably this was the first time women's crew teams were allowed to participate in the historic Poughkeepsie Regatta. Established British racing team

Carlin Motorsport Carlin, formerly known as Carlin Motorsport and Rodin Carlin, was a motor racing team based in the United Kingdom. It primarily competed in junior racing championships such as FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3. Carlin also competed in top level ...

have chosen Poughkeepsie as their U.S. base whilst racing in

Indy Lights Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Roa ...

Arts and entertainment

Bardavon building poughkeepsie 2007 03 18

Poughkeepsie has a number of notable institutions for arts and entertainment. The

, located on Market Street just below Main Street, is a theater that has an array of music, drama, dance, and film events and is the home of the

Hudson Valley Philharmonic The Hudson Valley Philharmonic (abbreviated HVP) is a symphony orchestra based in Poughkeepsie, New York in the United States. It began in 1932 and serves the Hudson Valley region. The Philharmonic offers a series of concert performances at the ...

. The Mid-Hudson Civic Center, located down the street from the Bardavon 1869 Opera House, hosts concerts,

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

and

trade shows A trade show, also known as trade fair, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and c ...

and has an

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ...

next door for

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

. From July 1984 to August 5, 1986, the Civic Center was the location for filming

WWF Championship Wrestling ''WWF Championship Wrestling'' is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It aired from 1971 to August 30, 1986, and was the original television show of the WWF. Originally produced ...

The Chance The Chance is a concert and theater complex located in downtown Poughkeepsie, New York. The complex consists of four rooms: the Chance Theater, which is the primary concert hall; The Loft, a smaller upstairs concert hall; The Platinum Lounge, a d ...

, located at 6 Crannell Street in downtown Poughkeepsie, hosts live rock concerts with local as well as major artists. The collections of the

Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, commonly known as the Loeb, is a teaching museum, major art repository, and exhibition space on the campus of Vassar College, in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. It was founded in 1864 as the Vassar Colleg ...

chart the history of art from antiquity to the present and comprise over 21,000 works, including paintings, sculptures, prints, and photographs. The Barrett Art Center at 55 Noxon Street offers exhibits, classes, and lectures on the visual arts. Locust Grove, the home of

Samuel Morse Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872) was an American inventor and painter. After establishing his reputation as a portrait painter, Morse, in his middle age, contributed to the invention of a Electrical telegraph#Morse ...

and a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

, features paintings by Morse, as well as historically important examples of telegraph technology. For shopping and movie theater entertainment, the

Poughkeepsie Galleria The Poughkeepsie Galleria is a shopping center on U.S. 9 in the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York, located just north of Wappingers Falls, and is the largest shopping center in Dutchess County. The mall retailers include Macy's, Dick's Sporting G ...

is located in the

, southeast of the hamlet of

Crown Heights Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Crown Heights is bounded by Washington Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the north, Ralph Avenue to the east, and Empire Boulevard to the so ...

and north of

Wappingers Falls Wappingers Falls is a village in the towns of Poughkeepsie and Wappinger, in Dutchess County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 5,522. The community was named for the cascade in Wappinger Creek. The Wappin ...

. The mall, which opened in 1987, consists of two floors with 250 shops, restaurants, and a multi-plex theater with 16 screens. The

Mid-Hudson Children's Museum The Mid-Hudson Discovery Museum (MHDM) is a children's museum in the Hudson River Valley between the larger New York City and Albany markets. It was formerly known as the ''Mid-Hudson Children's Museum,'' until the range of children it serves ...

is located at 75 North Water Street. The Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center at 9 and 12 Vassar Street provides venues for music, dance and the visual arts. Bananas Comedy Club is a comedy club that presents comedians such as Jim Norton,

Rich Vos Rich Vos (born June 30, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor. Since 2011, he has been the co-host of the podcast ''My Wife Hates Me'' with his wife, comedian Bonnie McFarlane. Early life Vos was raised in a Jewish family who ...

Patrice O'Neal Patrice Lumumba Malcolm O'Neal (December 7, 1969 – November 29, 2011) was an American comedian and actor. He was known for his stand-up comedy career and his regular guest appearances on the talk show '' Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn'' and th ...

, and

Nick DiPaolo Nicholas Rocco Di Paolo (born January 31, 1962) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, actor, radio personality and podcast host. He is the host of ''The Nick Di Paolo Show'' podcast, and is best known for his appearances as a regular on ...

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an Americans, American comedian, television host, actor, singer, writer, and producer. Best known for his work in television, Fallon's breakthrough came during his tenure as a cast member on the ...

started his career performing at the club. Joseph Bertolozzi's Bridge Music is a sound-art installation on the Mid-Hudson Bridge. The Chance Theater and

ranked #4 and 5, respectively, on a list of Poughkeepsie's most Instagrammed locations in 2016.

Library

Th
Poughkeepsie Public Library District
serves the City and Town of Poughkeepsie through a special legislative Library district established in 1988. The Library District's main library Adriance Memorial Library, is located on Market Street in the City of Poughkeepsie. Another City branch, the Sadie Peterson Delaney African Roots Branch Library, is located in the Family Partnership Center on North Hamilton Street. The Library District has another branch library in the Town of Poughkeepsie, the Boardman Road Branch Library, along with a mobile library service called Rover.

Transportation

Poughkeepsie sits at the junction of the north–south

US 9 U.S. Route 9 (US 9) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway in the states of Delaware, New Jersey, and New York in the Northeastern United States. It is one of only two U.S. Highways with a ferry connection (the Cape May–Le ...

and east–west

US 44 U.S. Route 44 (US 44) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that runs for through four states in the Northeastern United States. The western terminus is at US 209 and New York State Route 55 (NY 55) in Kerhonks ...

and NY 55 highways. Rail commuter service to New York City is provided at the Poughkeepsie Metro-North station by the MTA's

Metro-North Railroad The Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company , also branded as MTA Metro-North Railroad and commonly called simply Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a New York State publ ...

. Poughkeepsie is the northern terminus of Metro-North's Hudson Line.

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

also serves the station, along the Hudson River south to New York City's

Pennsylvania Station Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may refer to: Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * New York Penn Station ** Pennsylvania Station (1910–1963), the predecessor to the present New York City station * Newark Penn Station Trai ...

and north along the river to Albany-Rensselaer station and points further north and west. Amtrak trains serving Poughkeepsie are the '' Adirondack'', ''

Empire Service The ''Empire Service'' is an inter-city rail service operated by Amtrak within the state of New York in the United States. The brand name originated with the New York Central Railroad in 1967. Trains on the line provide frequent daily service ...

'', ''

Ethan Allen Express The ''Ethan Allen Express'' is a daily passenger train operated by Amtrak in the United States between New York City and Burlington, Vermont, via Albany, New York. One daily round trip is operated on a north–south route with a 7-hour 35 mi ...

'', ''

Maple Leaf The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is most widely recognized as the national symbols of Canada, national symbol of Canada. History of use in Canada By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by ...

'', and ''

Lake Shore Limited The ''Lake Shore Limited'' is an Amtrak Long Distance, overnight passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the Northeastern United States, with sections to New York City and Boston. The central segment of the route runs along the s ...

.''

The

, opened in 1930, carries US 44 and NY 55 across the Hudson River from Poughkeepsie to

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

. The Poughkeepsie Bridge opened in 1889 to carry railroad traffic across the Hudson, the usage of the bridge came to an end when a 1974 fire damaged its decking. A local group (Walkway over the Hudson) raised the funds to convert the bridge into a unique linear park connecting rail-trails on both sides of the Hudson River. The Walkway Over The Hudson opened on October 3, 2009, coinciding with the 400th anniversary of

's first exploration of the river named for him. The bridge is now open for pedestrian and bicycle use and is a state historic park. The

Dutchess County Airport Hudson Valley Regional Airport , formerly known as Dutchess County Airport, is a county-owned public-use airport located on State Route 376 in the Town of Wappinger, Dutchess County, New York, United States, south of the central business distr ...

in nearby Wappinger, New York, Wappinger services general aviation, although it once had scheduled air carrier service by Colonial Airlines in the 1950s and regional airline service by Command Airways and others in the 1960s–1980s. The nearest major airport to Poughkeepsie is

about south in Newburgh (town), New York, Newburgh. Other nearby airports include Westchester County Airport approximately south, Albany International Airport approximately north and the three major metropolitan airports for New York City: John F. Kennedy International Airport approximately south, Newark Liberty International Airport approximately south, and LaGuardia Airport approximately south. Bus transit service is provided by Dutchess County Public Transit, operated by Dutchess County, which travels throughout Dutchess County and also serves as the main link to the Route 9 corridor, including

and South Hills Mall. Both services have a quasi-hub at the intersection of Main and Market streets, adjacent to the Mid-Hudson Civic Center and at the west end of the former pedestrian-only Main Mall (the mall was removed in 2001, with those blocks being restored back to traffic and to the name Main Street). Other buses serving this area include Trailways of New York, Adirondack Trailways, Short Line (bus company), Short Line, commuter runs to White Plains, New York, White Plains, and a shuttle to New Paltz (village), New York, New Paltz.

Notable people

*George Appo, pickpocket and con artist - operated a green goods scam in Poughkeepsie for a short period in the 19th century *George G. Barnard, state judge - impeached by the Court for the Trial of Impeachments for events during the Erie War *Chris Bell (director), Chris Bell, film director/producer * Joseph Bertolozzi, composer, musician - creator of Bridge Music and Tower Music (Joseph Bertolozzi), Tower Music *Josh Billings (pen name of Henry Wheeler Shaw), humorist of mid-to-late 19th century *Jane Bolin, first black woman to serve as a judge in the United States *Rob Chianelli, drummer for We Are the In Crowd *Shawn Christensen, Oscar-winning screenwriter, film director, actor, singer-songwriter, painter *Richard Connell, author *Philip Schuyler Crooke (1810–1881), U.S. Representative *Andrew Jackson Davis (1826–1920), known variously as the "Poughkeepsie Seer" or "The Seer of Poughkeepsie" *Cathy Davis, boxer *Richard Denning, actor *Amanda Minnie Douglas (1831–1916), writer''New Jersey Historical Society Library''
Retrieved December 1, 2013 *Bill Duke, actor and film director *Chris Dyson, motorsport driver *Martin Faust (actor), Martin Faust, actor *Kendall Francois, serial killer *Carolyn Garcia, a/k/a "Mountain Girl", Merry Pranksters, Merry Prankster, wife of Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia *Benjamin A. Gilman, former U.S. congressman *Alex Goot, YouTube musician *Dustin Higgs, convicted murderer executed by the United States federal government *Mela Hudson, actress, producer *Jonathan Idema, self-proclaimed counter-terrorism expert and covert operations specialist, partially served sentence in Pul-e-Charkhi prison in Afghanistan before being pardoned by Hamid Karzai *Tibor Kalman, graphic designer, emigrated from Hungary to Poughkeepsie as a child *Hevad Khan, poker player *G. Gordon Liddy, key figure in Watergate scandal *Keith Lockhart, conductor of Boston Pops Orchestra *Bartlett Marshall Low, Minnesota state legislator, businessman *Terry MacAlmon, Christian musician *Jocko Maggiacomo, motorsport driver *Joe McPhee, jazz musician, multi-instrumentalist *Johnny Miller (aviator), Johnny Miller, pioneering aviator, brother of Lee Miller *Lee Miller, fashion model, World War II photographer and correspondent, sister of Johnny Miller *Alison Mountz, political geographer *Sergio Rossetti Morosini, artist, conservator *Sterling Morrison, guitarist for The Velvet Underground *Anna Morton, Second Lady of the United States between 1889 and 1893 *Billy Name, photographer, filmmaker, artist and collaborator of Andy Warhol *Homer Augustus Nelson, lawyer, United States Congress, Representative, Secretary of State of New York, Colonel (United States), colonel in the Union Army *Michelle Nijhuis, science journalist *Mark Parker, president/CEO of Nike, Inc. *Edmund Platt, former U.S. Representative *Dave Price, WNBC-TV Weatherman *William Radford (1814–1870), former United States Representative, U.S. Representative *Barbara Rhoades, film/television actress *Richard Rinaldi, National Basketball Association, NBA guard *Robert Sheckley, author, Hugo and Nebula award nominee *Leonard B. Smith (musician), Leonard B. Smith, jazz cornetist, composer *Charles Spencer (American football), Charles Spencer, professional American football, football offensive tackle *Monty Stickles, AFL/NFL football player *Debi Thomas, figure skater - 1986 world champion and bronze medallist at the 1988 Winter Olympics, 1988 Olympic * Matthew Vassar, founder of

in 1861 *Riley Weston, screenwriter - best known for ''Felicity (TV series), Felicity'' *Andre Williams (American football), Andre Williams, NFL running back, 2013 Heisman Trophy finalist *Ed Wood, film director *Cory Wong, musician

Scientists and inventors

*Sara Josephine Baker, physician, inventor of infant formula *William Henry Brewer, chemist, geologist and botanist *Alfred Mosher Butts, architect, inventor of the board game, ''Scrabble'' *Donald L. Klein, Donald Klein, chemist, inventor of MOSFET transistor *Fritz Albert Lipmann, Fritz Lipmann, biochemist, Nobel Prize, Nobel prize winner *Calvin D. MacCracken, inventor *Harold J. Morowitz, biophysicist *

, inventor/namesake of Morse code *Samuel Slocum, inventor *Smith Brothers, William Wallace Smith 2nd, chemist, co-inventor of the first Throat lozenge, cough drops produced and advertised in the United States

Major League Baseball players

*Frank Bahret *Tommy Boggs *Buttons Briggs *Frank Cimorelli *Bill Daley (baseball), Bill Daley *Ricky Horton *Fred Lasher *Mickey McDermott *Jeff Pierce (baseball), Jeff Pierce *Elmer Steele

Bands

*Against the Current (band), Against the Current (pop rock) *Genghis Tron (grind/math metal) *Matchbook Romance (emo punk) *Pound (band), Pound (rock) *Shai Hulud (band), Shai Hulud (hardcore metal) *That's Outrageous! (metalcore) *We Are the In Crowd (pop punk)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Poughkeepsie, New York, Cities in New York (state) Populated places established in 1687 Former state capitals in the United States, New York New York (state) populated places on the Hudson River County seats in New York (state) Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area 1687 establishments in the Dominion of New England Cities in the New York metropolitan area Cities in Dutchess County, New York New York (state) placenames of Native American origin