Poughkeepsie

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Poughkeepsie
Nickname : Queen City of the Hudson
View looking southwest from College Hill, 2007
View looking southwest from College Hill, 2007
Location in Dutchess County
Location in Dutchess County
Basic data
Foundation : 1687 (1799 Village, 1854 City)
State : United States
State : new York
County : Dutchess County
Coordinates : 41 ° 42 ′  N , 73 ° 55 ′  W Coordinates: 41 ° 42 ′  N , 73 ° 55 ′  W
Time zone : Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 )
Residents : 32,736 (as of 2010)
Population density : 2,461.4 inhabitants per km 2
Area : 14.8 km 2  (about 6 mi 2 ) of
which 13.3 km 2  (about 5 mi 2 ) is land
Height : 66 m
Postcodes : 12601-12604
Area code : +1 845
FIPS : 36-59641
GNIS ID : 979392
Website : www.cityofpoughkeepsie.com

Poughkeepsie [ / pəˈkɪpsi / ] is the name of two neighboring towns in the west of Dutchess Countys in the US state of New York : the City of Poughkeepsie and the neighboring Town of Poughkeepsie . Regardless of this administrative division, however, both places are generally regarded as one place. The City of Poughkeepsie is the county seat of Dutchess County. Both places together have 76,067 inhabitants (as of 2010), of which 32,726 are in the city and 43,341 in the town. The name Poughkeepsie is derived from the Indian name Uppu-qui-ipis-in or U-puku-ipi-sing, which means something like "hut (or camp) by the (small) water", with water being a source or a tributary of the Hudson River is meant.

geography

The City of Poughkeepsie is located in the west of the county, right on the east bank of the Hudson River, about 140 km north of New York City and about 130 km south of Albany . To the north, south and east, the City of Poughkeepsie borders the Town of Poughkeepsie .

According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has an area of ​​14.8 km², of which 13.3 km² is land and 1.4 km² (= 9.65%) is water.

history

The first European known by name to settle in the Poughkeepsie area was a Dutchman named Barent Baltus in 1659. His son Baltus Barent van Kleeck founded the place in 1687 and built the first traditional house in 1702.

The area was spared from fighting during the American Revolutionary War , making Poughkeepsie the second capital of New York. The assembly to ratify the Declaration of Independence by the newly formed state, including Alexander Hamilton , John Jay and the later Vice President George Clinton , met in what was then the Courthouse on Market Street. Upon ratification, New York became the eleventh of the Thirteen Colonies that merged as the United States .

In the same year the Town of Poughkeepsie was founded. In 1799 the later City of Poughkeepsie was first incorporated as a Village ; it received a charter as a City in 1854 and was thus separated from the Town of Poughkeepsie.

Poughkeepsie used to live off the processing of hunted whales , later shipping, paper mills and some breweries contributed to the growth of the place. One of these entrepreneurs, Matthew Vassar , eventually started Vassar College .

Its relative proximity to New York City , which became more accessible after the Hudson River Railroad was built, meant that wealthy New York families like the Astors and Vanderbilts built extensive weekend seats in the Poughkeepsie area. Founded in 1869, the Bardavon Opera House is the oldest continuously operating entertainment facility in the state.

The National Register of Historic Places listed together more than 90 entries in City and Town . In addition, the Matthew Vassar Estate , Vassar College Observatory , Main Building, Vassar College , Hudson River State Hospital, Main Building, and Samuel Morse's House Locust Grove have been designated National Historic Landmarks .

Economy and Infrastructure

In 1911, the musical instrument and orchestrion maker M. Welte & Sons founded a subsidiary and production facility in Poughkeepsie, which was in operation until 1919. The former factory building still exists; it is now a branch of the Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation.

The Fiat Automobile Company had already settled here in 1909 . The company belonged to a group of American investors with a minority stake by Fiat and built some of the largest passenger car models of the Italian brand under license, followed by some independent constructions. The plant was then sold to Duesenberg Motors Corporation to manufacture trucks, aircraft and other engines for military use. In 1919 the company and with it the factory went to John North Willys . Parts of the Fiat building can still be seen today. For example, parts of the wall from the old factory have become the outer wall of a mall.

In 1948, IBM built a large factory in the Town of Poughkeepsie, in which IBM mainframe computers such as the IBM 7030 or the 195 model of the System / 360 were manufactured. IBM still has a large site here. Until 1972, the Smith Brothers brand cough drops known in the USA were also produced in Poughkeepsie .

traffic

The Mid-Hudson Bridge

In Poughkeepsie, US Highway 9 (north-south direction, Delaware - New York ) and US Highway 44 (east-west direction, Massachusetts - New York) and New York State Route 55 intersect . Highway 44 crosses the Hudson River on the Mid-Hudson Bridge , opened in 1930 , which connects Poughkeepsie with the city of Highland in Ulster County across the river .

There is a local airport in the nearby town of Wappingers Falls , and Stewart International Airport, the nearest major airport, is about 40 km south of Poughkeepsie in Newburgh . The international airports of New York-John F. Kennedy , Newark-Liberty and New York-LaGuardia in the south and Albany Airport in the north are 120–170 km away.

Front of Poughkeepsie Railway Station

Metro-North Railroad trains stop at the station in the City of Poughkeepsie . It is the northern terminus of the Hudson Line operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from Poughkeepsie to Manhattan .

The trains Adirondack , Empire Service and Maple Leaf by Amtrak connect the station to the city with the Pennsylvania Station in New York City in the south and Albany, Montreal , Toronto and other cities to the north and west.

Local public transport in Poughkeepsie is operated by two bus operating companies. City of Poughkeepsie Transit , a municipal company, operates five circuits, most of which run in one direction, covering the urban area and surrounding areas in the Town of Poughkeepsie and Hyde Park. Dutchess County LOOP is maintained by the county and operates throughout Dutchess County.

A railway bridge over the Hudson River, the Poughkeepsie Highland Railroad Bridge , was built in 1887/88. It was badly damaged by a fire in 1974 and is consequently out of order. It has been used as a pedestrian crossing since 2009.

media

The Poughkeepsie Journal Building is also on the National Register of Historic Places .

The daily newspaper Poughkeepsie Journal , founded in 1785, and the weekly gazette The Weekly Beat report on events in Poughkeepsie .

education

The well-known Vassar College , which was formerly an all- women college but has also been open to male students since 1969, the Marist College and the Dutchess Community College are located in the Town of Poughkeepsie.

Public schools in the City of Poughkeepsie have approximately 5,000 students. The City of Poughkeepsie is also home to a branch of Adelphi University .

The Culinary Institute of America is just off Highway 9 in neighboring Hyde Park , just north of Poughkeepsie . Many well-known celebrity chefs have taught or were trained there.

Demographics

At the time of the United States Census 2000, the city was inhabited by 29,871 people. The population density was 2243.8 people per km ². There were 13,153 housing units at an average of 988.0 per km². The population consisted of 52.84% of whites , 35.71% Black or African American , 0.39% Native American , 1.62% Asian , 0.05% Pacific Islander , 5.29% said other races to belong and 4.10% named two or more races. 10.64% of the population declared to be Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The residents of the City of Poughkeepsie were distributed across 12,014 households out of which 28.3% were living in children under 18 years of age. 29.8% of households were married, 19.7% had a female head of household without a husband and 45.5% were not families. 35.4% of households were made up of individuals and someone lived in 13.2% of all households aged 65 years or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.15.

The city population was divided into 25.9% minors, 12.2% 18–24 year olds, 29.2% 25–44 year olds, 19.0% 45–64 year olds and 13.6% aged 65 years or more. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 women there were 91.7 men. For every 100 women over 18, there were 88.0 men.

The median household income in Poughkeepsie was 29,389 US dollars and the median family income reached the amount of 35,779 US dollars. The median income for men was $ 31,956 compared to $ 25,711 for women. The per capita income in Mexico reached 16,759 US dollars. 22.7% of the population and 18.4% of families had an income below the poverty line , including 30.3% of minors and 13.8% of those aged 65 and over.

sons and daughters of the town

Poughkeepsie is also the birthplace of eleven Major League Baseball players : Frank Bahret (1858), Frank Beck (1860), Bill Daley (1868), Buttons Briggs (1875), Elmer Steele (1886), Mickey McDermott (1929), Fred Lasher (1941), Tommy Boggs (1955), Ricky Horton (1959), Frank Cimorelli (1968) and Jeff Pierce (1969).

Web links

Commons : Poughkeepsie  - album containing pictures, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Poughkeepsie  Travel Guide

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Beverly Rae Kimes (editor) and Henry Austin Clark, jr .: The Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942 . 2nd Edition. Krause Publications, Iola WI 54990, USA 1985, ISBN 0-87341-111-0 , pp. 38-39.
  2. ↑ Don Butler: Auburn Cord Duesenberg. Crestline Publishing, 1992, ISBN 0-87938-701-7 , pp. 90-92.
  3. ^ Private website about structures in Poughkeepsie