POUGHICEEPSIE, po-kip'si, N. Y., city and county-seat of Dutchess County, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, 72 miles north of New York, midway between the High lands and the Catskills, and on the New York Central and Hudson River and the Central New England railroads. A ferry connects it with the West Shore Railroad. A cantilever bridge carries the Central New England lines across to the west bank of the river. Poughkeepsie has an elevation of 200 feet and a mean annual temperature of 50°. The city is the seat of Vassar College (q.v.), of Glen Eden Seminary, Putnam Hall, Eastman Business College, Adri ance Memorial Library, containing over 40,000 volumes, the Hudson River State Hospital for the Insane, Vassar Brothers' Institute, Vassar Brothers' and Saint Francis hospitals, Pringle Home, Columbus Institute and Riverview Mili tary Academy. College Hill Park has an area of 100 acres and is finely situated, commanding a magnificent view of the Hudson. The Inter collegiate regatta is an annual event in June. There are four national banks, one trust com pany and one savings bank, with total resources of $30,000,000. There is also an active Chamber of Commerce of 822 members and having an annual income of over $22,000. The assessed value of property subject to taxation is as fol lows: Real property, $24,844,845; personal property, $956,650; special franchise, $1,387,680; shares of bank stock, $1,573,047. The city's funded debt is $2,135,000. The total tax rate is $25.97 per $1,000 valuation. There are 55 lines of manufacture in the city with products having an estimated total value of $15,000,000 and employing over 5,000 people. There are, all told, 176 establishments, employing 5,580 persons; of the latter 147 are proprietors and firm members, 704 are salaried employees and 4,729 are wage-earners. The capital invested aggregates $13,935,000; wages, $2,284,000; sala ries, $1,039,000. The cost of materials used aggregates $6,115,000, and the value added by manufacture, $6,676,000. The chief manufac
tures are mill supplies, underwear, trousers, cigars, candied fruits and preserves, cream separators, foundries, knitgoods, celluloid arti cles, skirts, infants' garments, ball bearings, auto specialties, children's dresses, machine shop products, linen and cotton mesh, shoes, ivory buttons, piano and organ players, dyes, etc. In September 1917 the average wage of 44 con cerns employing men in Poughkeepsie was 16.01, and the 25 concerns employing women .90 per week. There are 11 grade schools with ,500 pupils, five parochial schools, a$250,000 high school with 1,100 students. About $150,000 represents the municipal annual outlay on edu cation. Poughkeepsie has steamer connection with Albany, New York and other Hudson River points. It is also a terminal point on the State canal system. What is now termed the city of Poughkeepsie dates far back of definite records. Its name is found in an Indian deed of date 5 May 1683, granting to Pieter Lam singh and Jan Smeedes each a farm, and to the latter also a waterfall near the eastern bank of the Hudson, to build a mill thereon. The waterfall is called Peoghkepesingh (°the place where the water breaks through'). A Dutch settlement sprang up about 1698, and during the Revolutionary War the place was a base for the Continental armies. In 1778 it became the State capital and in 1788 the Federal Con stitution was ratified at a State convention held here. In 1799 it was incorporated and in 1854 was chartered as a city. The present charter was granted in 1874. Under it the people elect a mayor, a common council of 14 members and an alderman-at-large, who is president of the council. Pop. 32,000. Consult Platt, E., 'Eagle's History of Poughkeepsie) (Pough keepsie 1905).