Mayor Marc Nelson joined several historical organizations Monday for the unveiling of a Lafayette Trail marker at Waryas Park. The marker commemorates the upcoming 200th anniversary of Marquis de Lafayette’s return visit to the United States as the last living Brigadier General of the American Revolution. That visit included a major public reception in Poughkeepsie on September 16, 1824.
Over the past few years, The Lafayette Trail, Inc., has donated over 120 historic markers across 21 of the 24 states and Washington, D.C. that Lafayette visited during the tour. In New York, the marker project has been financially supported by William G. Pomeroy Foundation and the New York Daughters of the American Revolution.
Joining Nelson today were Julien P. Icher, founder & president of the Lafayette Trail, Inc.; Dutchess County Historian William P. Tatum III; Dutchess County Historical Society Executive Director Bill Jeffway; Denise VanBuren, former president general at Daughters of the American Revolution National Headquarters; Patrice Birner, New York State DAR Vice President General; and Poughkeepsie Public Library District Executive Director Tom Lawrence.
You can learn more about the project here and and find out more about Lafayette’s time in Dutchess County here.