Poughkeepsie (pəkĭpˈsē) [key], city (1990 pop. 28,844), seat of
Dutchess co., SE N.Y., on the Hudson River; settled 1687 by the
Dutch, inc. as a city 1854. It is a trade center and was once a
major manufacturing center, but suffered severe economic decline
in the early 1990s. It now has computer hardware and software
research and development firms, and light manufacturing. It
became the temporary state capital in 1777, and the U.S.
Constitution was ratified (1788) there. Poughkeepsie is the seat
of Vassar College and Marist College. An annual intercollegiate
regatta is held on the river in June. Several historic 18th-
century buildings still stand. The Mid-Hudson Bridge crosses the
river at Poughkeepsie, as does a former rail bridge (1888) that
was the first Hudson crossing to be built south of Albany. Hyde
Park lies just north of the city. The Columbia Electronic
Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University
Press. All rights reserved. More on Poughkeepsie from
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