LOCATION

The historic Wappingers Falls Boathouse

(105 Market Street) 

​

Previously the Box Factory, this building was built in the late 19th century for the construction of wooden crate shipping containers for calico fabric produced at the Dutchess Bleachery.  Lumber arrived here from barges coming up the Hudson River to the Wappingers Creek.  That lumber was then crafted into shipping crates; the manufactured textile goods were shipped to markets from there.

The Dutchess Bleachery and associated buildings have had many names in the past: Dutchess Print Works; Garner Print Works;  the Dutchess Bleachery.  Established in 1830, the Dutchess Print Works was one of the first calico printing and dyeing companies in America.  In the 1890’s, Garner Print Works and Co. was the largest manufacturer of printed fabrics in the world and exhibited their fabrics at all the major exhibitions of the day.

​