_Bayard Taylor._

* * *

Poughkeepsie has been known for more than half a century as the City
of Schools. The Parthenon-like structure which crowns College Hill was
prophetic of a still grander and more widely known institution, the
first in the world devoted to higher culture for women,--

=Vassar College.=--This institution, founded by Matthew Vassar, and
situated two miles east of the city, maintains its prestige not only
as the first woman's college in point of time, but also first in
excellence and influence. The grounds are beautiful and graced by
noble buildings which have been erected year by year to meet the
continued demands of its patrons. The college is not seen from the
river but is of easy access by trolley from the steamboat landing.

=Eastman College= is also one of the fixed and solid institutions
of Poughkeepsie, located in the very heart of the city. It has
accomplished good work in preparing young men for business, and has
made Poughkeepsie a familiar word in every household throughout the
land. It was fortunate for the city that the energetic founder of this
college selected the central point of the Hudson as the place of all
others most suited for his enterprise, and equally fortunate for the
thousands of young men who yearly graduate from this institution,
as the city is charmingly located and set like a picture amid
picturesque scenery.

Among many successful public institutions of Poughkeepsie are the
Vassar Hospital, the Vassar Old Men's Home, the Old Ladies' Home, the
State Hospital and the Vassar Institute of Arts and Sciences.

* * *

I went three times up the Hudson; and if I lived in
New York should be tempted to ascend it three times a
week during the summer.

_Harriet Martineau._

* * *

The opera house is one of the pleasantest in the country and received
a high comment, still remembered, from Joseph Jefferson, for its
perfect acoustic quality. The armory, the Adriance Memorial Library to
the memory of Mr. and Mrs. John P. Adriance, and the historic Clinton
House on Main Street purchased in 1898 by the Daughters of the
Revolution, also claim the attention of the visitor. Several factories
are here located, the best known being that of Adriance, Platt & Co.,
whose Buckeye mowers and reapers have been awarded the highest honors
in Germany, Holland, France, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Russia,
Switzerland, and the United States, and are