The USS Blakely and USS Shubrick were Blakely class torpedo boats constructed in 1899. They served in various capacities until 1920 when they were both sold for scrap to U.S. Rail and Salvage Co. in Newburgh, N.Y. The cut off bow of one of these vessels was then used as land fill in Poughkeepsie south of the Mid-Hudson Bridge. These are photos of the boat.
More information: USS Shubrick, USS Blakely
Location: Bing Maps (41.690041, -73.938759)
This family cemetery is located on Cedar Avenue in Poughkeepsie a little south of the intersection with Hooker Avenue. It is in front of the Fox Hill Condo complex, between Panorama Blvd and Arnold Blvd on the west side of the road. There is an entry on the RootsWeb website that digitizes an entry in “Old Gravestones of Dutchess County, New York” by J. W. Poucher published in 1924, page 238. Below is the information from the website/publication:
CLASSIFICATION: Family ground.
LOCATION: Southeast of the city of Poughkeepsie, in an orchard near the east fence of the property of the Hudson River Driving Park Association.
CONDITION: Stones fallen and broken.
INSCRIPTIONS: 9 in number. Copied April 25, 1911, by J. W. Poucher, M. D., and Miss Helen W. Reynolds.
REMARKS: Van Der Burgh ground. Before 1800 the Van Der Burghs were large land owners in this neighborhood and on old maps the present Southeast Avenue, Poughkeepsie, was “the road to John Van Der Burgh’s”. John Van Der Burgh’s house is still standing opposite the northeast corner of the Driving Park but made over and modernized. In its first estate it was an attractive eighteenth century farm house with an excellent carved doorway and fanlight. Originally there were a good many stones in the family burial ground which, by vandalism, have been broken and scattered.
1. Burton, Abigail, w. of Stephen, d. 1850, Oct, —-, a. 82 y. 2 m.
2. Burton, Stephen, d. 1842. (Broken stone).
3. Vanderburgh, Abraham, d. 1840, Nov. 23, a. 60 y. 9 d.
4. Vanderburgh, Elizabeth Meserole, w. of Peter, d. 1842, Apr. 24, a. 93-6-7.
5. Vanderburgh, Henry, d. 1821, Nov. 9, in 82d y.
6. Vanderburgh, Maria, w. of Henry P., d. 1823, May 29, a. 28 y. 8 m.
7. Vanderburgh, Peter, d. ——–. (Broken)
8. ————, d. Dec. 15, ——-, a. 81-8-24.
(Broken stone, possibly part of Peter Vanderburgh’s).
9. ————, “March —, a. 75 y. 1 m.” (broken stone).
More information: RootsWeb entry
Location: Google Maps (41.681472, -73.903283)
These are photos of an abandoned railroad line along Hudson Avenue in Chatham, NY.
More information: History of Chatham
Location: Google Maps (42.356862, -73.600511)
The Saugerties Lighthouse was constructed in 1869. More information about the history can be found in the link below.
More information: History
Location: Google Maps (42.072103, -73.929694)
Photos of some of the agricultural buildings on the property known as Vassar Farms, owned by Vassar College, in Poughkeepsie, NY. Since these photos were taken, they renovated a portion of the main barn (dairy wing). According to the website for the Environmental Cooperative, Vassar College purchased the property in the early 1900s and moved its farming operation, which supplied much of the food for the college, from the main campus to this nearby property. This move of operations “necessitated the construction of a poultry farm, stables, greenhouses, storage barns, and a model dairy barn. By the 1950s, the farming operation was no longer economically viable; all of the cows were sold, and the Vassar Farm stopped producing its own vegetables and milk products.”
More Information: The Environmental Cooperative at the Vassar Barns
Location: Google Maps (41.678131, -73.897138)
According to the Hudson Valley Ruins website, this former mansion in Rhinebeck, NY, the mansion was “built in 1853 for Elizabeth Schermerhorn Jones, a relative by marriage to the wealthy Astor Family… A later owner was Andrew Finck, New York City beer baron and a cooper by trade, and associate of brewer Jacob Rupert, of nearby Linwood. Wyndclyffe, then known as Linden Hall or Finck Castle, supposedly had an underground tap line from the mansion to the tennis courts. The house was a private residence until 1936, and was finally abandoned for good sometime after 1950. Wyndclyffe remained remarkably [sic] intact through the 1980s, but decay worsened as abandonment neared the end of a half-century.”
These photographs are from 2015.
More Information: Hudson Valley Ruins (including photos over time from 1999 to 2010)
Location: Google Maps (41.8869454, -73.9360088)
These are photos of the Williams Lumber properties at 58 and 47 Cottage Street, Hamlet of Salt Point, Town of Pleasant Valley, NY.
Based on review of several sources, including documents obtained and summarized by Dieter Friedrichsen, a former Pleasant Valley Town employee, the 58 Cottage Street property has been an integral part of the history of the Salt Point area. In the 1700s and 1800s, the area contained a mill due to the location of a waterfall on the Wappingers Creek. The mill was located in the current basement of Building 1. Grains were brought to the mill to be ground. A wagon shop at one point also existed on the property. At this time the property was an island surrounded by a split in the Wappingers Creek.
In 1871, a railroad was created along the eastern side of the property at 58 Cottage Street and was used for transportation of materials. Also photographed are abutments from the railroad bridge that used to cross the Wappingers Creek north of 58 Cottage Street. Around 1910, the property was a coal yard and may have also sold lumber and feed. Several sheds were located on the property at various times. The use of this property as a coal and lumber yard and a feed store continued. In at least the 1960s, the property sold fuel oil. The site became Williams Lumber during the mid 1970s. As of 2010, the site was Williams Lumber & Home Centers.
The history of the property at 47 Cottage Street is unknown. According to topographic maps, the property seems undeveloped until the 1960s. Two barns (buildings #7 & #8) in poor condition occupied the property.
Locations: 58 Cottage Street (41.806323, -73.793879), 47 Cottage Street (41.805580, -73.794085)
I came across this building one day and could not resist photographing it. According to this website, it was built in 1909 and is an example of a Second Renaissance Revival style municipal building. The same website has a lot of information about the public bath movement in America.
More information: Website
Location: Google Maps (40.935369, -73.889152)
There are several storefronts constructed to the front of this older residential structure on Route 55 in Poughkeepsie. Based on a Facebook post in a Pougkeepsie-related group, this strip included Becks Farm Market, Karl Ehmer’s Meats, and Harold’s Drive-In in the late 1960s/1970s. The historic photos are courtesy of Tom Beck (digitized from 8mm home movies) who posted these to Facebook and dated them from about 1965.
Location: Google Maps (41.688145, -73.881044)
This old, wooden bridge carried the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad over the Monhagen Brook.
Location: Google Maps (41.422028, -74.406028)
