A couple of great photos shared with me are of the Siglar Preparatory School. Anyone remember it? Okay, let’s go back to the beginning. In 1829, the Reverend John M. Mason established the seminary for the Associated Presbyterian Church and moved the location to the City of Newburgh, erecting a stone building to house the Theological Seminary of the Associated Reformed Church about 1839. Mary McTamaney wrote a beautiful article (see the Mid Hudson Times, April 22, 2021), about the origins of this building and grounds which has graced our area for years.

Henry W. Siglar purchased the building and transformed it into the Siglar Preparatory School. There are some different dates on when Henry W. Siglar opened his school. In “Newburgh, Her Institutions, Industries and Leading Citizens”, it states he moved here in the spring of 1864, leaving his position as principal of Staples’ Free Academy in Easton, Fairfield County, Connecticut, and opened the Preparatory School. However, in one of his advertisements for his school from 1897, he states the school is celebrating its 35th year. With a little arithmetic, this would put the opening in 1862. It also states in his obituary that the year he opened the school was 1862. Mr. H.W. Siglar passed away in April of 1918, at the home of his son in New York City.

The Preparatory School was a boarding school for boys between the ages of 8 and 16 years of age. The total enrollment was limited to thirty young men. Being a Yale graduate himself, Henry employed other Yale alumni as teachers. From what can be seen through a number of articles, a high percentage of the school’s graduates went on to Yale and were quite successful in their professional lives. While the education of these young men was excellent, the school eventually closed in 1902, when Henry was 69 years old.

There’s a photo of the Class of 1884 from Siglar’s Preparatory School for Boys. There are no names listed, but one can observe Henry in the upper right, proudly looking down on the boys. He’s the gentleman with the long beard. There is certainly a sense of camaraderie among the young men, as noted in their facial expressions, along with a certain flair for fashion.

The second photo is a fantastic shot from the east of the school, facing down the Hudson Valley displaying the landscape and an area of the city which is long gone. Hard to imagine when all this area was uncrowded by buildings.

Oh, lest I forget. Does everyone know what became of the school? If you happen to visit the St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital on Dubois Street, take a close look, and peel away the layers and years of additions and you’ll discover the original stone façade and structure.