Peekskill Military Academy

Peekskill Military Academy
Address
Elm and Hudson Streets
Peekskill, New York
United States
Information
Type Military academy
Opened 1833
Status closed
Closed 1968
Campus size 55 acres (22 ha)[1]

Peekskill Military Academy was founded as 'Peekskill Academy'. It was a military academy for young men and women, founded in 1833, located in Peekskill, New York, United States. The academy was built by a hanging tree and when a building was built near the great tree (1833), one of the British who was captured and summarily hanged, Daniel Strang’s bones were found buried nearby.[2] In 1841 the academy decided to only admit boys. By 1857 it was known as Peekskill Military Academy.[3] The school song was titled "The Big House on the Hill".[4] The School Motto was 'Stand Firm As An Oak Quit You Like Men'[5] The academy closed in June 1968. The reason identified was a decline in enrollment and lack of endowment. A former faculty member, Roland R. Robinson, founded Eastern Military Academy. The Academy buildings were razed to make room for a new Peekskill High School building.[1] The Ford Administration Building is the last significant structure remaining from the academy and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.[6]

During the 1960s, the New York Jets football team used the Academy and its playing field as a summer training camp. Joe Namath was a Jets team member at the time. The team was called the New York Titans till 1963.

Famous Alumni

Famous alumni include actor Guy Williams, Sandy Weill a banker, writer L. Frank Baum, politician Chauncey Depew.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "The Elm Street Campus". Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  2. ↑ http://fogeyfotia.com/2007/12/05/the-old-oak-at-peekskill-military-academy/
  3. ↑ http://www.westchesterarchives.com/ht/muni/peekskill/PMA.html
  4. ↑ http://www.westchesterarchives.com/ht/muni/peekskill/PMA_Full.html?song.x=69&song.y=120
  5. ↑ http://www.peekskillmuseum.org/military.html
  6. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13.

External links

Coordinates: 41°17′14″N 73°55′03″W / 41.28722°N 73.91750°W