By Anna Kaigle, Geography, Class of 2025. The Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory (PUF) is a historic factory building located at 8 North Cherry Street, just off Main Street. Since its construction in 1874, the building has undergone many changes in ownership and use of the space. Starting as the Live Oak Leather Manufactury, it became the… Continue reading The Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory
Category: Poughkeepsie
The Short-Lived Main Mall
By Arlo Lennert, Urban Studies, Class of 2025. Constructed in 1973, Poughkeepsie’s Main Mall ended in 2001. Established as an outdoor pedestrian shopping plaza, proponents viewed it as a way to reverse the decline of the central business district. It catered to affluent residents during the city’s final phase of urban renewal. Urban planners aimed… Continue reading The Short-Lived Main Mall
Fall Kill Creek
By Arlo Lennert, Urban Studies, Class of 2025. The Fall Kill Creek is a 38-mile-long creek that begins in Clinton, New York, passes through the North Side of Poughkeepsie and finally joins the Hudson River near the train station. The northern areas of the creek are marshy, while the area within the city is contained… Continue reading Fall Kill Creek
Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center
9-12 Vassar Street, Poughkeepsie By Julia Maisel-Berick, American Studies, Class of 2024. When the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center opened as an artistic and community hub in the late 1970s, the site already had a long history of providing space for cultural and philanthropic efforts in Poughkeepsie. Divided between two buildings, 9 Vassar Street and 12 Vassar… Continue reading Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center
Union Street Historic District
By Julia Maisel-Berick, American Studies, Class of 2024. Facing the threat of urban renewal, one Poughkeepsie neighborhood resisted the encroaching demolition efforts through community action and remains a symbol of resistance to this day. Officially registered on the National Register of Historic Places in December of 1971, the Union Street Historic District represents several centuries… Continue reading Union Street Historic District
Hudson Garden Apartments/Smith Street Housing Project
Smith Street (between Weed St. and Salt Point Turnpike), Poughkeepsie Formerly known as the Smith Street Housing Project, the Hudson Garden Apartments are a public housing development in Poughkeepsie. The apartment complex opened to its first residents in 1952, becoming the city’s first public housing project. The 185-unit complex was named after Poughkeepsie cough drop… Continue reading Hudson Garden Apartments/Smith Street Housing Project
Halloween House
27 South Clinton Street, Poughkeepsie In central Poughkeepsie, very close to the east-bound arterial, lies the ‘Witchcraft District,” an area with no formal boundaries that is home to a community of members of the Church of Satan. It is here that Satanists have found spaces to congregate, where black cloaks and bloody daggers are simply… Continue reading Halloween House
