James Bowne: Mayor of Poughkeepsie The City of Poughkeepsie has had many different mayors over the years. Each one has left a mark on the landscape in some small way. In the early days of the city, may [...]

Grandpa, Is That You? - Learning Your Family’s History (with Stories and Some Research Tips) Have you ever taken the time to dig into your family history? Believe me, it takes time. Sometimes you find [...]

Andrew Billings: Silversmith Silversmithing is the art of taking silver and other precious metals and making them into objects such as jewelry and serving wares. The golden age for silversmiths is said [...]

Arnout Cannon, Jr. - Poughkeepsie’s Architect *Content warning-this post discusses an incident involving suicide. Several prominent architects got their starts here in Poughkeepsie, and we are fortunat [...]

Carving Out a Legacy: George Edmund Bissell Think about all of the monuments and statues you have seen in your life. Each one of those pieces had an artist that came up with a design and painstakingly [...]

Smead Mausoleum: The House That Delia Built...and Rebuilt  When we ask ourselves what we really want in this life, many of us can say we’d like to be independently wealthy (but let’s face it, that’s no [...]

Helen Wilkinson Reynolds: Our Patron Saint of Local History It has occurred to our personnel here in the Local History Room that not everyone knows who Helen Wilkinson Reynolds is. We feel like we need [...]

Doctor Sara Josephine Baker: Fighting for Life In 1890, two men from the same household died from typhoid fever, only a few months apart. Sadly, this was not uncommon. What makes their deaths so specia [...]

Murder on Main Street - Part Two Last week we covered the abrupt shooting of a rigger named Henry Gagnon. He was shot to death in broad daylight on Main Street, right here in Poughkeepsie. His killer j [...]

Murder on Main Street - Part One If you watch the nightly news you are probably aware that there is a lot of gun violence out there. It seems like a regular occurrence in major urban areas like New Yor [...]

More Long Lost Buildings of Poughkeepsie: The Reynolds Houses on Mill Street Thank you to all of the Local History Nerds who attended our program on the Long Lost Buildings of the City of Poughkeepsie, [...]

The Poet with the Annoying Husband Did you know that April is National Poetry month? It's a time to celebrate the great poets and poems that have left an impression on our minds. Did you also know that [...]