Photo & Video Gallery
The Wappingers Historical Society has over 1,500 photos in its collection. The photos below are a small selection from our library. Click on the arrows to the left or right to advance the photos. Hover over the photo to see its description or Click on the photo to expand it and also see its description.
School Days
In our collection, we have a number of school photos from the area. Like most rural areas in the United States, there were many independent “one-room schoolhouses” in Wappingers. Multiple grades were taught in a single classroom by one teacher. Starting with meetings in 1937, these schools were “centralized” into the Wappingers Central School District, which was approved in November 1938, rendering the one-room schoolhouse obsolete.
Photos of Henry C. Townsend
Henry C. Townsend was a well-known professional photographer in the Wappingers area. Mr. Townsend was born in 1858 in Poughkeepsie. As a young adult, he moved to New Hackensack and worked at the Dutch Reformed Church. Henry moved to the Village of Wappingers Falls, where he lived for the next 52 years. He was very community minded and pursued a wide variety of activities. He owned an art and photo studio in the Village of Wappingers Falls. Henry died in 1926 at the age of 68. Click on the button below to see more about Henry C. Townsend.
Clinton Point
Clinton Point, once the estate of Vice-President George Clinton, was the site of Stoneco Quarry which began operations in 1890. In 1919, it was taken over by New York Trap Rock. Most all of the photographs shown in the following strip were taken from 1939 through the 1940’s just prior to the buildings being demolished in order to expand the area of the quarry.