Boathouse row shortly after completion of the Martin boathouse. The city of Poughkeepsie, which owned the Cornell and California boathouses, restored the shoreline by driving piles. When this proved too costly for Marist College, Brother Nilus imported large boulders from the construction site along Parker Avenue which became the Andros diner. The boulders were too heavy for his normal crane. He bought a surplus truck and surplus small heavy duty crane from from the government war surplus system, mounted the crane on the truck, and used that hybrid to position the rocks along the shore. The trucks porting the boulders from Parker Avenue would not fit through the 1913 tunnel; Dutton allowed the college to truck them in through their lumber yard.

The incline at the extreme left of this photo just past the Cornell Boathouse is for launching motor crafts.

Richard Foy

April 2012

Photograph