OLD CITY HALL

Inscription

OLD CITY HALL
BUILT 1832 AS VILLAGE HALL
AND MARKET. SERVED AS CITY
HALL FROM 1854 UNTIL SOLD
TO DUTCHESS COUNTY IN 1969.
POST OFFICE HERE 1865-1888.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2025

In 1832, the Poughkeepsie Journal announced that a “public market” was to be built in a central location and would have a “public Hall” on the second floor. Stalls were rented out to business proprietors, including meat and fish vendors. The going rate for a stall in 1832 was $690 a year (approx. $16,000 in 2025). A map from 1934 by Henry Whinfield identified the building as both “Market Square” and “Village Hall”.

In 1854, Poughkeepsie was chartered as a city, and the Village Hall likely became City Hall. In 1865, the Poughkeepsie Eagle announced that the post office was to be located in City Hall (August 30, 1865). In 1876 the Post Office was still operating out of the City Hall building, as can be seen on a map by Theodore W. Davis and the Reading Publishing House.

The city began to run out of space by the late 1800’s, and by 1880 they had built a second building just behind the original structure. The two were photographed when the second building was completed in 1880. However, in 1884 the Post Office got its own building nearby and moved out (Poughkeepsie Journal, April 8, 1883; Poughkeepsie Eagle News, July 6, 1883).

In 1887 the first Sanborn map for Poughkeepsie shows the two buildings labeled as “City off’s”, and they were still serving the area as the City Hall. This is consistent with the 1912 Sanborn map, and the building continued to serve as City Hall up until Dutchess County purchased it from the city in 1969. The County purchased multiple buildings and lots in the vicinity to build a County office and courthouse complex (Poughkeepsie Journal, May 9, 1969).

The student-led application for this grant came from students at Arlington High School, led by instructor Robert McHugh. The students researched the Old City Hall, then gathered and submitted the required materials for the historical marker as part of our Pomeroy Education Program.