Program

NYS Historic, Pomeroy Education Program

Subject

Building, Education

Location

17 Liberty St, Wappingers Falls, NY 12590, USA

Lat/Long

41.552270983495, -73.967517483269

Grant Recipient

Millbrook Historical Society

Located along the Hudson River sits the former Dist. No. 4. grammar school, which was constructed in 1875 when the village was known as Low Point before being renamed Chelsea.

The school and village are described in the 1882 publication, History of Dutchess County New York: Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers by James H. Smith.

Low Point (Carthage Landing P.O.) is a station on the Hudson River Railroad in the southwest corner of the town, 3.53 miles above Fishkill Landing 2.57 miles below New Hamburgh. Its name was given to designate its low land in contradistinction from the high lands at New Hamburgh. It contains two churches, (Episcopal and M.E.,) a district school—a brick structure twenty-seven by fifty-four feet, erected in 1875.

The school was closed ca. 1959 when the Chelsea-Brockway and Red Schoolhouse districts merged with the Beacon City School District. As of 2024, the former grammar school building continues to serve the local community, housing both the fire district office and the post office.

The student-led application for this grant came from the Millbrook Historical Society, which worked with students from Arlington High School, and was led by instructor Robert McHugh. The students researched the Grammar School, then gathered and submitted the required materials for the historical marker as part of our Pomeroy Education Program.