Dut c h e s s Co un ty
Hi s t o r i c a l
So c i e ty
Poughkeepsie Yacht Club: Working Men Build a Club by Arthur E. Scott The best laid schemes o' mice and men Gang aft a-gley -Robert Burns Working men and women built Poughkeepsie Yacht Club-"woodworker, drafts man, telegrapher, railroad clerk, owner of small business;" and more recently, "computer engineer, programmer and manager." You won't find many names of Poughkeepsie Yacht Club officers and members in the history books, for they were not among the rich and famous. They were people who realized that by working together they could enjoy recreation on the river. Doctors, bankers, and lawyers ·- contributed in the same way-giving of their time and skills-doing what needed to be done. Working people built the Club-folks who loved the river and wanted a way to use it, wanted to be on the water, wanted to be around and enjoy boats, wanted to enjoy sailing. This is their story, largely in their words.
Poughkeepsie Yacht Club Organized From the beginning of its history, Dutchess has been a maritime county and Poughkeepsie, a maritime center. The great Hudson River is still the highway to the rest of the world. From the days of the great ex plorations through the times of the whaling in dustry until the railroads took over, the river was the artery of commerce and transportation. The yacht, once the boat of commerce, was subse quently used so much in racing, that today it means only pleasure craft. At the end of the nineteenth century, sailing boats and Poughkeepsie Yacht Club Collection hand-propelled craft were the average person's means for water recreation. The object of the Poughkeepsie Yacht Club as stated in its Constitution has, from the beginning, been "the advancement of yachting and recreation for its members." Arthur E. Scott is historian of the Poughkeepsie Yacht Club, which will cele brate its Centennial in 199 2. 56
