Clinton House (Poughkeepsie, New York)

Clinton House
Clinton House in March 2007
Location 547 Main Street, Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, USA
Coordinates 41°42′0.94″N 73°54′58.26″W / 41.7002611°N 73.9161833°WCoordinates: 41°42′0.94″N 73°54′58.26″W / 41.7002611°N 73.9161833°W
Area less than one acre
Built 1765
Architect unknown
Architectural style Georgian
Governing body State
MPS Poughkeepsie MRA
NRHP Reference # 82001128[1]
Added to NRHP November 26, 1982

The Clinton House is an 18th-century Georgian stone building in the town of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, USA, listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a historic place of local significance since 1982. It is a New York State Historic Site. 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.[2]

The house probably served as a meeting place for legislators during the time Poughkeepsie was capital of New York in 1777.

Clinton House was built around 1765 by Hugh van Kleeck (born about 1745, died after 1810) who owned about 20 hectares of land south of Main Street where the house stands. In 1780, the house came into the possession of Udney Hay, who belonged to Quartermaster Corp of the Continental Army. When his house was damaged by fire, Hay petitioned George Washington for craftsmen to assist in its repair. However, Hay lost the house in 1786 when it was seized for debt.

In 1900, the house had fallen into disrepair and it was purchased by the Daughters of the American Revolution, who presented it to the then Governor of New York Theodore Roosevelt for the citizens of the State of New York.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.[1]

Today, the Clinton house is used for the offices and library of the Dutchess County Historical Society, with one room still set aside for use by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-07-09.
  2. ↑ Sharp, Townley McElheiny (1980-08-06). "New York State Parks and Recreation Department of Historic Preservation Building-Structure Inventory: Clinton House". Retrieved 2008-02-29.

External links