by Shannon Butler
For many hard working folks, it’s pretty common to dream of a piece of land to work with and a house to call your own. Many of us want something that we can build upon and improve with our creative visions and perhaps even pass it down to future generations. For most of us, this means a modest little house on a manageable piece of land with maybe a small garden. The days of grand landscapes and large mansions along the Hudson are mostly a thing of the past, but we are fortunate enough to benefit from some of those left behind. As we saw in our recent documentary on landscapes and gardens, there are plenty of places you can stop and admire. In my eagerness to showcase some of our old gardens and landscapes, I somehow neglected to mention one of the most historic landscapes located right here in Poughkeepsie, Springside.
Matthew Vassar had been a pretty hard working guy most of his life. He made his way across the river when he was about 14 years old in search of some gainful employment. He worked for a merchant just north of Newburgh for a while before he made his way back to Poughkeepsie to join his family’s brewing business. He opened an oyster restaurant in the basement of the Courthouse to feed all of those working in the Dutchess County legal system in 1812. He invested in the Poughkeepsie Whaling company and had several sloops that brought the ales from his brewery up and down the river. He was also involved in the Farmers and Manufacturers National Bank as well as directing the Poughkeepsie Lyceum of Literature, Science and the Mechanical Arts. And as we all know, his wealth and vision would eventually give us Vassar College. In the beginning of 1850, Vassar found himself serving on a committee to create a cemetery for Poughkeepsie. He purchased the Allen Farm for $8,000 and it was determined suitable for such use. In the fall of 1850 he began to make improvements on the property with the help of landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing. However, the cemetery idea fell through, and Vassar found himself considering the idea of making this property into a gentleman’s farm.
Downing had laid out the original plans for the grounds that became known as Springside, named for the springs that pop up within, and also planned for several buildings on the property. Downing would not live to see the completion of his ideas, he died in the explosion of the steamboat Henry Clay on July 28th 1852, he was only 36 years old. His partner Calvert Vaux, who had been assisting him, would work alongside Vassar to continue the project. There were plans for several outbuildings besides the gatehouse (which is the only original building on the property that still stands today), including barns, stables, dairy, and ice house. There was also a plan for a large manor house which Vassar never built as he preferred to live in the cottage instead. Vassar began to call Springside his home sometime around 1853 and lived on the property until his death in 1868. Even when Vassar was alive, he allowed the public to roam the grounds as it essentially served as a public garden until his death.
Since Vassar had no children of his own, Springside would become the home of various other families over the course of the next 75 years. However, by the 1960s, the property was all but abandoned and the buildings were left to rot. There were many attempts to build apartments, private housing, commercial development, and even a suggestion that the land be used for a new high school. Luckily, local history lovers came to the rescue each and every time development was discussed. Sadly, in August of 1969, an arsonist burned down the carriage house and stables. The main cottage had deteriorated to the point that in 1976, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation decided to detach the front facade to preserve at least some part of it (you can see that front porch on display in the New York State Museum.) Today, you can walk the old paths that would have been the original roads laid out by Downing, Vaux, and Vassar. Check out some of the images taken by our very own librarian Martha Farrell in her hiking video.
Portrait of Matthew Vassar (shown right)
Images of Springside from the Library of Congress
Saving Springside: Preserving Andrew Jackson Downing’s Last Landscape by Harvey K. Flad, Hudson River Valley Review, Autumn 2017
