{"nrhp_refnum":"89000306","name":"Poughkeepsie Meeting House (Hooker Avenue)","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"249 Hooker Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Poughkeepsie","county":"Dutchess County","state":"NY","lat":41.68891720800008,"lon":-74.27238650499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-04-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick Quaker meeting house at 249 Hooker Avenue in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York, built in 1928 to a design by New York City architect Alfred Bussell.","why_significant":"It is the last historic phase of Quaker architecture in Dutchess County and the only county meeting house built in the twentieth century. It is also the only one designed to serve both Orthodox and Hicksite Friends. Its Colonial Revival design blends traditional meeting house simplicity with churchlike elements, symbolizing the reconciliation that led to reunification in 1955.","narrative":"Completed in 1928 at 249 Hooker Avenue in Poughkeepsie, this brick meeting house was designed by New York City architect Alfred Bussell for a Quaker congregation that included both Orthodox and Hicksite Friends. The two branches had been separated since 1828, and dwindling membership in both pushed them to build together. Bussell answered competing wishes, some wanting stained glass, an organ and a steeple, others a traditional plain meeting house, with a Colonial Revival building laid in English bond. Its rectangular form, gable-end entrance and pews facing the gable end recall nineteenth-century churches, while a rising bench instead of a pulpit, a sliding panelled partition and hand-planed wainscoting of uneven widths echo early meeting houses. It is the only twentieth-century meeting house in Dutchess County and marks the reconciliation that led to reunification of the Society of Friends in 1955. The building remains in use for worship and retains its original design and materials.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect: Alfred Bussell; builder unknown","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as good, with outstanding integrity of design and materials; still used as a meeting house.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:45.209574-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/89000306.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000306/0609e00387-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000306/0609e00387-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Pksherpa","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poughkeepsie_Meeting_House_249_Hooker_Ave_Poughkeepsie_NY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Pksherpa</a>, <a href=\"https://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:Poughkeepsie_Meeting_House_249_Hooker_Ave_Poughkeepsie_NY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75312678","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poughkeepsie_Meeting_House_(Hooker_Avenue)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7235490"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/dutchess-county/poughkeepsie-meeting-house-hooker-avenue-89000306/"}