{"nrhp_refnum":"72001540","name":"Vassar Institute","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"12 Vassar St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Poughkeepsie","county":"Dutchess County","state":"NY","lat":41.70561927800003,"lon":-73.93144781499996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-01-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Science","Architecture","Performing Arts"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick public hall with attic and full basement at 12 Vassar Street, Poughkeepsie, New York, completed in 1882 on the site of a former brewery. It combines Italianate Gothic and Second Empire elements and includes a rear auditorium wing.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it by far the best example in Poughkeepsie of Victorian Italianate Gothic combined with Second Empire elements. It was built by Matthew Vassar's nephews as a cultural and educational center housing a natural history museum, library, and lecture hall. Its large scale also makes it a major element of the city skyline and urban pattern.","narrative":"Completed in 1882 at 12 Vassar Street in Poughkeepsie, the Vassar Institute is a red brick cultural hall with granite trim, a convex mansard roof, a heavy carved wooden cornice and a square portico on its street facade. It was erected on the site of Matthew Vassar's former brewery by his nephews, Matthew Vassar Jr. and John Guy Vassar, at a cost of $30,000. J. A. Wood was the architect, A. Cannon, Jr. the builder and C. J. Roune the mason. Behind the front block, a rear wing holds an auditorium seating about 300, with curved rows of original cast iron seats, a balcony and stained glass windows. The building once housed a natural history museum, a science library, local literary and scientific societies, and a sculpture studio, and later hosted a lecture series and community theater. Its Italianate Gothic and Second Empire design is regarded as the finest of its kind in the city, and its size contributes to the Poughkeepsie skyline.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (1882)","architect_builder":"Architect J. A. Wood; builder A. Cannon, Jr.; mason C. J. Roune","architectural_style":"Victorian Italianate Gothic combined with Second Empire elements","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as excellent and unaltered condition; no longer used for its lecture series, needing a new heating system and enlarged plumbing, but described as structurally sound.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.345622-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/72001540.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001540/c7d1ba10d8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001540/c7d1ba10d8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daniel Case","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vassar_Institute,_Poughkeepsie,_NY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniel Case</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vassar_Institute,_Poughkeepsie,_NY.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"72000834","name":"Mill Street-North Clover Street Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/mill-street-north-clover-street-historic-district-72000834/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317512","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassar_Institute","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7916912"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/dutchess-county/vassar-institute-72001540/"}