It is an irregularly-shaped area of 27 acres (11 ha) between US 9 and downtown Poughkeepsie, located on the slope up from the Hudson River.

Like the Union Street Historic District to its south, the neighborhood remained virtually unchanged from the 19th century when it first began to grow and develop.

Two areas of historic buildings adjacent to the district, on Main and North Bridge streets, were not included because they were meant to be razed as well.

But those plans were canceled, and in 1987 the district's boundaries were increased by a few acres to include the still-extant blocks.

On the west, it takes in Church of the Holy Comforter and the houses on Davies Place just across from it and Wheaton Park to the north.

The coming of the Hudson River Railroad, which passed close to the neighborhood on the west, in the 1850s added to its prosperity.

[4] Their ownership of the land on which the Second Baptist Church was located led to it being called the "Vassar Temple" due to its colonnaded facade and use as a synagogue after the Civil War.

[3] The neighborhood remained mostly unchanged well into the 20th century, when it was spared from urban renewal by the work of local preservationists.

Media related to Mill Street-North Clover Street Historic District at Wikimedia Commons