History of the Pelton Mansion
and Wheaton Park

The Peltons were one of Poughkeepsie’s early industrial leaders, and owned a mill that produced yards of carpet and manufacturing pins from 1837-1890, which gave many city families employment. The mill, (the oldest extant industrial building in Poughkeepsie), located at 110 Mill Street, was converted into apartments in 1985.

The Pelton family mansion, “Hill House”, located very nearby the mill in what is now Wheaton Park, was built circa 1859, and provided an imposing home for a succession of Pelton families, but eventually, after the death of George Philip Pelton in 1897, the next generations of Peltons moved on.

In 1900 the mansion was occupied and leased as temporary housing for the Gallaudet Home for the Deaf, but after Gallaudet moved their operation to a new location in 1903, the surviving Pelton family members let the mansion became vacant. During this time, Father Joseph Sheahan of St. Peter’s Church (now Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church) noted that the children on the Northside and the Westside of Poughkeepsie needed space to play. He realized having a beautiful park around the train station could serve as a majestic entrance to the City of Poughkeepsie.

In 1908, local philanthropist Caroline T. Wheaton, died and, in her will, left a very generous donation to the City of Poughkeepsie for an unspecified special project. Her son Isaac presented a check and letter to city of Poughkeepsie officials, stating that his mother was especially interested in children’s playgrounds in urban landscapes, based on the increasing attention to a nationwide cause known as the American Playground Movement. The city purchased the land and mansion in 1910, for $10,000.

In 1912, the Poughkeepsie Day Nursery began occupying part of the Pelton Mansion at the newly named Wheaton Park; moving from their two earliest locations, after being formed in 1907. Soon they expanded, and used the entire building. The Nursery served a crucial need, and existed for over one hundred years; enrolling children from a wide variety of cultural and family backgrounds, until closing its doors in May of 2014. Currently the ‘Italianate Villa’ Pelton Mansion, listed on the National, State, and Local Registers of Historic Places, stands on 2.2 acres of land, waiting to be revived!
Content adapted from the “Statement of Significance”, Local Register of Historic Places Nomination, 2010.

What is the future?

We are committed to creating a place where visitors and residents can stroll and mingle, and where our adaptively re-imagined historic building and green space can host diverse opportunities for people to live, work, and play. TAKE ACTION! LEARN MORE!