Eastman Terrace

Last updated
Eastman Terrace
Eastman Terrace 1-10 Eastman Terr Poughkeepsie NY.jpg
The rowhouses in October 2015
USA New York location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location1-10 Eastman Terr., Poughkeepsie, New York
Coordinates 41°41′48″N73°55′54″W / 41.69667°N 73.93167°W / 41.69667; -73.93167
Arealess than one acre
Built1872
ArchitectThompson, A.G.
Architectural style Renaissance Revival
MPS Poughkeepsie MRA
NRHP reference No. 82001133 [1]
Added to NRHPNovember 26, 1982

Eastman Terrace is a historic rowhouse block located at Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York. It was built in 1872 and consists of ten sections. The block is three stories high on a raised basement. It features a mansard roof with polychrome slate and an elaborate roofline with decorative stone parapets and iron cresting. The block was part of a larger plan to develop the Eastman Park section of the city. [2]

Contents

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. [1]

History

Harvey G. Eastman was an educator, politician, and prominent citizen of the City of Poughkeepsie in the mid-19th century. He established the Eastman Business College in 1859 and was the city's mayor from 1871 to 1874. Among other innovations Eastman brought to Poughkeepsie like street lighting and a central water system, he had a vision for the area bordering the southern edge of downtown. In 1865, he purchased 27 acres of swamp land right next to his mansion at Montgomery Street and South Avenue, and envisioned a park with a housing development to complete it. The park was to be of grand design and became known as the “Central Park” of Poughkeepsie. It was complete with fountains, a pond with a central island, a terraced walkway, a concert area, a ball field, a skating park, a small zoo, and an extensive flower garden. The park was bordered with walls of marble and paths of bluestone. The park, open to the public at no charge, was privately funded by Eastman at a total cost of $200,000 ($3,140,000 in 2016). [3] [4]

The second part of Eastman's vision was an urban townhouse community. In 1872, he planned to build 24 five-story rowhouses bordering the southern edge of the park in one long block along a street still known as Eastman Terrace. The development, which would ultimately fail, became known as “Eastman’s Folly.” The townhouses were offered at $17,000 each ($340,000 in 2016) and were marketed as the finest, most modern townhomes between New York City and Albany. Buyers had choices to their interior finishes like specially designed furniture and stenciled walls, all of the highest quality craftsmanship available. Eastman had 10 of the houses built but struggled to sell them. The answer seemed trivial to the local wealthy population; a narrow, connected house was unnecessary when one could build a large, detached house on nearby Academy Street or Garfield Place. While Eastman had the lots and walkways for the remaining 14 townhouses laid out, his struggle to sell the first 10 influenced his decision to stop construction of them before they were complete. [3]

Eastman Park and the rowhouses still exist today, although with much less allure. The park no longer has its extravagant features, and in the 1970s the YMCA built a mostly athletic facility on the grounds and turned much of the park into athletic fields and a dirt running track, though the facility was closed in early 2009 from financial issues. [5] The building and fields are mostly dilapidated now. The western side of the park is a combination football/baseball field which still hosts select football games between local high schools. Much of the park's marble walls and bluestone perimeter walks are still intact. The rowhouses were mostly converted to apartments in the early 20th century, with only one remaining a single-family home. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poughkeepsie, New York</span> City in New York, United States

Poughkeepsie, officially the City of Poughkeepsie, which is separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it, is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New York metropolitan area and the state capital of Albany. It is a principal city of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area which belongs to the New York combined statistical area. It is served by the nearby Hudson Valley Regional Airport and Stewart International Airport in Orange County, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poughkeepsie (town), New York</span> Town in New York, United States

Poughkeepsie, officially the Town of Poughkeepsie, is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 45,471. The name is derived from the native compound Uppuqui-ipis-ing, from Uppuqui meaning "lodge-covered", plus ipis meaning "little water", plus ing meaning "place", all of which translates to "the reed-covered lodge by the little water place". This later evolved into Apokeepsing, then into Poughkeepsing, and finally Poughkeepsie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Townhouse</span> Individual urban house in a terrace or row

A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence of someone whose main or largest residence was a country house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terraced house</span> Form of medium-density housing

A terrace, terraced house (UK), or townhouse (US) is a kind of medium-density housing that first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row houses or row homes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walkway over the Hudson</span> Pedestrian bridge in New York, United States of America

The Walkway over the Hudson is a steel cantilever bridge spanning the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie, New York, on the east bank and Highland, New York, on the west bank. Built as a double track railroad bridge, it was completed on January 1, 1889, and formed part of the Maybrook Railroad Line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in New York</span>

Buildings, sites, districts, and objects in New York listed on the National Register of Historic Places:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Square, Baltimore</span> United States historic place

Union Square is a neighborhood located in the Sowebo area of Baltimore. It dates to the 1830s and includes a historic district of houses and commerce buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adriance Memorial Library</span>

The Adriance Memorial Library is located on Market Street in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. It is a stone building in the Classical Revival architectural style erected shortly at the end of the 19th century. In 1982 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clinton House (Poughkeepsie, New York)</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The Clinton House is an 18th-century Georgian stone building in the city of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is a New York State Historic Site and has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a historic place of local significance since 1982. The house was named for George Clinton, who served as the first Governor of New York and fourth Vice-President of the United States. He was believed to have lived there after the American Revolutionary War, but it is now known that it was never his residence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Post Office (Rhinebeck, New York)</span> United States historic place

The U.S. Post Office in Rhinebeck, New York serves the 12572 ZIP Code. It is located on Mill Street just south of the intersection with NY 308 at the center of the village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Poughkeepsie YMCA</span> United States historic place

The Old Poughkeepsie YMCA is on the west side of Market Street near the corner of Church Street in Poughkeepsie in New York, United States, across from the former New York State Armory. One of many historic early 20th-century institutional buildings on Market Street, the city's main downtown thoroughfare, it has a glazed terra-cotta front facade, the only building in Poughkeepsie using that material.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harlow Row</span> Historic house in New York, United States

Harlow Row, also called Brick Row, is a group of brick townhouses in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. While their address is given as 100-106 Market Street, they are actually located on a short side street referred to as Little Market Street, across from a small park with the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Fountain, on the residential southern fringe of the city's downtown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ednor Gardens-Lakeside, Baltimore</span> Community in Baltimore, Maryland

Ednor Gardens-Lakeside is a large community in northeast Baltimore, Maryland. It is bounded by 33rd Street to the south, Hillen Road to the east, Ellerslie Avenue to the west, and Argonne Drive, The Alameda, Loch Raven Boulevard, and Roundhill Road to the north. Ednor Gardens was part of a large planned community that was built out from the 1920s through the 1950s by Edward Gallagher, one of Baltimore's most prolific homebuilders at the time. It is notable among its neighbors for the quality of the homes and extensive landscaping. Until it was torn down in 2002, Memorial Stadium was located in Ednor Gardens-Lakeside.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mill Street–North Clover Street Historic District</span> Historic district in New York, United States

The Mill Street–North Clover Street Historic District is located along those streets and Main Street in western Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. It is an irregularly-shaped area of 27 acres (11 ha) between US 9 and downtown Poughkeepsie, located on the slope up from the Hudson River. There are roughly 139 historic buildings, and very few new ones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buildings at 10, 12, 14, and 16 East Chase Street</span> Historic houses in Maryland, United States

Buildings at 10, 12, 14, and 16 East Chase Street is a historic set of rowhouses located at Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Number 10 is a 3+12-story brick townhouse with a 3-bay front façade, fitted with marble facing from ground to first floor level. It is believed to have been designed by Bruce Price and / or E. Francis Baldwin, architects of neighboring Christ Church. Numbers 12, 14, and 16, by contrast, are identical 3+12-story, two-bay houses constructed of green serpentine marble with contrasting stone detail. The group dates from between 1870 and 1875. They represent a fine example of the Gothic Revival style as interpreted for domestic architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creek Meeting House and Friends' Cemetery</span> Historic church in New York, United States

Creek Meeting House and Friends' Cemetery is a historic Society of Friends meeting house and cemetery on Salt Point Turnpike/Main Street in Clinton Corners, Dutchess County, New York, United States. It was built between 1777 and 1782. The meeting house is a two-story, squarish building constructed of fieldstone. Land for the building was given by Able Peters, whose substantial brick house is the next building on the same side of the road north of the meeting house. In 1828 the Friends Creek Meeting split into Hicksite and Orthodox meetings. The Orthodox meeting moved about a mile north of Clinton Corners to the Shingle Meeting House located on the grounds of the current Friends Upton Lake Cemetery. The Creek Meeting sold the building to the Upton Lake Grange in 1927 and joined the Bulls Head Meeting in 1936.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boughton-Haight House</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The Boughton-Haight House is a historic house located at 73-75 South Hamilton Street in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rawlins Park</span> Park in Washington, D.C., U.S.

Rawlins Park is a rectangular public park in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C., two blocks west of the White House grounds and two blocks north of the National Mall. The boundaries of the park are 18th Street NW to the east, E Street NW to the south and north, and 19th Street NW to the west. The park was an undeveloped open space for many years, until plans were made to install the statue of John Aaron Rawlins in 1874. Various improvements were made, but the area surrounding the park remained mostly undeveloped. This changed in the 1890s when the area was cleared of marshes, and houses were built on the park's southern border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Violet Avenue School</span> United States historic place

Violet Avenue School is a historic school building located at Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York. It was built in 1939–1940, and is a two-story, five part, Colonial Revival style school building with load-bearing bluestone walls. It consists of a central tetrastyle portico entry block flanked by four wings. The central section features a central two-story classical portico with four columns with Corinthian order capitals and a prominent domed cupola. The school was built under the auspices of the Public Works Administration and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was influential in the design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pearson Terrace</span> Historic house in Indiana, United States

Pearson Terrace is a historic rowhouse block in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was built in 1901–1902, and is a two-story, seven unit, vernacular Queen Anne style grey brick row with limestone trim. It sits on a raised basement and has a complex gable roof. It features a projecting two bay center unit and projecting window bay.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. Townley McElhiney Sharp (August 1980). "National Register of Historic Places Registration:Eastman Terrace". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation . Retrieved 2011-01-08.
  3. 1 2 3 Anthony P. Musso (May 6, 2014). "Dateline: Eastman townhouses remain, despite 'Folly'". Poughkeepsie Journal . Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  4. Philip H. Smith (1877). "History of Poughkeepsie, NY (Part 2)From: General History of Dutchess County From 1609 to 1876, Inclusive". Author. Retrieved 2016-01-18.[ permanent dead link ]
  5. Michael Valkys (January 12, 2009). "YMCA closes Montgomery Street facility; Organization restructuring". Poughkeepsie Journal. Archived from the original on 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2016-01-18.