Peekskill Military Academy
| Peekskill Military Academy | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
|
Elm and Hudson Streets Peekskill, New York United States | |
| Information | |
| Type | Military academy |
| Opened | 1833 |
| Status | closed |
| Closed | 1968 |
| Campus size | 55 acres (22 ha)[1] |
Peekskill Military Academy was founded as 'Peekskill Academy'. It was a military academy for young men and women, founded in 1833, located in Peekskill, New York, United States. The academy was built by a hanging tree and when a building was built near the great tree (1833), one of the British who was captured and summarily hanged, Daniel Strang’s bones were found buried nearby.[2] In 1841 the academy decided to only admit boys. By 1857 it was known as Peekskill Military Academy.[3] The school song was titled "The Big House on the Hill".[4] The School Motto was 'Stand Firm As An Oak Quit You Like Men'[5] The academy closed in June 1968. The reason identified was a decline in enrollment and lack of endowment. A former faculty member, Roland R. Robinson, founded Eastern Military Academy. The Academy buildings were razed to make room for a new Peekskill High School building.[1] The Ford Administration Building is the last significant structure remaining from the academy and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.[6]
During the 1960s, the New York Jets football team used the Academy and its playing field as a summer training camp. Joe Namath was a Jets team member at the time. The team was called the New York Titans till 1963.
A yellow brick road made of Dutch pavers, which used to lead from the steamboat dock to the academy and of which only one section remains as part of a parking lot, is thought by city historian John Curran, among others, to be the inspiration for the Yellow Brick Road in alumnus L. Frank Baum's Oz books including the Wizard of Oz.[7]
Famous Alumni
Famous alumni include funeral director (Martin W Ball) actor Guy Williams, Sandy Weill a banker, writer L. Frank Baum, politician Chauncey Depew. Olympic gold medal winners and world record holders swimming Carl Robie class of 63, and Stephen Rerych class of 64
References
- 1 2 "The Elm Street Campus". Retrieved 2009-08-02.
- ↑ http://fogeyfotia.com/2007/12/05/the-old-oak-at-peekskill-military-academy/
- ↑ http://www.westchesterarchives.com/ht/muni/peekskill/PMA.html
- ↑ http://www.westchesterarchives.com/ht/muni/peekskill/PMA_Full.html?song.x=69&song.y=120
- ↑ http://www.peekskillmuseum.org/military.html
- ↑ Staff (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
- ↑ Banjo, Shelly (May 31, 2011). "Historian Believes if You Follow the Yellow Brick Road, You End Up in Peekskill: New York Town, Though, Pays No Attention to the Man Behind the Plan to Commemorate It". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
External links
Coordinates: 41°17′14″N 73°55′03″W / 41.28722°N 73.91750°W