A Brief History of the Marist Boathouses
About 90 years ago—before Marist College ever existed—the Hudson shoreline was a hotspot, drawing in universities from around the country.
In the early part of the 1900s, the International Rowing Association or IRA put on their first collegiate feat, titled the Poughkeepsie Regatta, on the Hudson river. This event grew in popularity through the 1910s and 1920s, with attendees picnicing on the shores of the river to watch the competition. By the 1930s, multiple colleges were migrating to the area for the race.
“Depending on the distance they came, some of them brought cooks with them, they brought doctors with them and stuff like that,” explained Library Assistant Ann Sandri.
Most rowing teams would stay in boarding houses or hotels in Poughkeepsie or Highland. However, some colleges, like Columbia University, had quarters in upper Highland where the teams could stay and keep their supplies. This prevented them from needing transportation to get food or equipment.
“Some of these schools, some of the bigger schools like Cornell, like University of California, MIT, wanted more permanent housing when they were here, a place to keep their shells and stuff like that,” said Sandri
MIT was the first school to build a boathouse on what is now Marist property, quickly followed by the construction of a boathouse by the University of California. Cornell University was also looking to construct a building in the area and took advantage of available government funding to do so.
Under Roosevelt’s New Deal, The Works Progress Administration (WPA) carried out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads.
Although the boathouse was funded, it took Cornell much longer to build than the others. “There was a huge, huge outcropping, of rock where this boathouse is, and part of the reason it took so long to build this one was they had to blast through all this rock,” Sandri explained.
Courtesy of Marist Archives
After the three boathouses were completed, another building was built as a dining hall for the students. “So that one was the southernmost part, kind of closer to where Martin would exist,” explained Sandri.
Unfortunately, on May 6, 1957, this dining hall caught fire. “It damaged the boathouse next to it, which had transferred ownership from MIT to Washington,” stated Sandri.
Over the years the boathouses fell into disrepair. The Washington owned boathouse was taken down due to the fire; however, the others stood for years.
“The boathouses kind of sat for a while and they weren't being done. The regatta left in 1949, so the schools weren't coming every year.”
Since the stone Cornell boathouse was more substantial than the wooden California, it was the only remaining structure after the California was taken down in the mid 1970s.
As the boathouses were not currently in use, the Marist brothers constructed a new boathouse in 1963 for the school crew team. Although some accounts say it is named after a George Martin, Sandri thinks otherwise.
“We have a note here that said could have been a William Martin, outstanding proponent of the crew in the Hudson Valley.”
The building’s first floor was designed to hold the team’s shells, and the second floor to be a locker room.
In addition to Crew, The Martin boathouse was also used for Marist Sailing. Students and faculty were allowed to use the Blue Jays, 13-foot wooden sloop rigged boats, at their leisure.
In 1977, the Cornell boathouse transferred to Marist ownership. In order to acquire the boathouse, Marist made a deal with the city of Poughkeepsie, agreeing to let local high schools use the building.
“So, there was a period of time of 25 years that FDR, and some other local high schools, had use of the Cornell boathouse,” said Sandri.
In 2004, the Cornell boathouse underwent restoration, which was completed in 2009. Some of the Boathouse’s original features still exist, such as a refurbished gas fireplace, and overhead wooden beams on the second floor.
Today, the Cornell boathouse is used for various events at Marist. The Martin Boathouse, although no longer used for sailing, is still used by the rowing team.
In looking back at the original buildings, Sandri is impressed by Cornell’s restoration. “I think they did a pretty good job at bringing it back to its former glory.”