In 1910 Nettie Bowne proposed that  a tuberculosis hospital be built on the Pendell farm in Poughkeepsie, New York  in memory of her husband, Samuel W. Bowne, a New York City businessman and philanthropist. The main hospital was dedicated in 1928, and expanded to include three main buildings by 1950. Only the original hospital building, now known as Bowne Hall, still exists.

After World War II  preventative treatments for tuberculosis limited the need for such hospitals, and in August, 1956 the hospital closed. Ten months earlier the Dutchess County Board of Supervisors had appointed a committee to pursue establishing a community college in Dutchess County.

The images below have been scanned from the original negatives used to produce a hospital brochure circa 1935. Click on a thumbnail to see a larger version of the image.