Newburgh, New York (town)

Newburgh () is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. It forms part of the Poughkeepsie—Newburgh—Middletown metropolitan area, which is a part of the New York megacity, and is a suburban satellite of the urbanized city of Newburgh. The city of Newburgh was once a part of the town prior to 1865. New York Stewart International Airport is partially located within the township, and much of the land into which it could have been expanded has been turned into Stewart State Forest.
The 2010 census determined the population was 29,801, marking the first time ever that the population of the town of Newburgh officially exceeded that of the neighboring city of Newburgh (with a population of 28,866). Estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau during 2018 show the Newburgh township's population exceeded 30,000.
The town of Newburgh is known as the "crossroads of the Northeast," a phrase coined in the 1980s by then-town supervisor Robert J. Kirkpatrick Jr., not only because of Stewart Airport and the Hudson River, but also because two major interstate highways cross the town: Interstate 84 (east and west) and Interstate 87, also known as the New York State Thruway (north and south). Previously, the highways were accessible to each other via a short stretch of New York State Route 300 (a major north-south thoroughfare and a main commercial corridor in the town) but a direct connection between I-84 and the Thruway was completed in December 2009, after being under construction for five years.
History.
Newburgh was originally settled in 1709 by German Palatine refugees under the name of "Neuburg," who were soon supplemented by a significant number of Scottish immigrants. It was chartered as a precinct in 1762. It was while Newburgh was a precinct, during the closing months of the American Revolutionary War, that General George Washington established his headquarters at the Hasbrouck House in what is now the city of Newburgh. It was during this time that the Newburgh letter was written by Lewis Nicola and the Newburgh Conspiracy took place.
Newburgh was rechartered as a town in 1788. At that time, it was a part of Ulster County. In 1798, the town of Newburgh and several other towns in southern Ulster County were transferred to Orange County, to compensate for the southernmost part of Orange County being cut away to form Rockland County. The town of Newburgh has remained a part of Orange County ever since. The village of Newburgh was incorporated in 1800. Then as now, villages in New York State remained a part of their parent towns. However, when the village was re-chartered as the city of Newburgh in 1865, it became totally independent of the town.
The town of Newburgh remained overwhelmingly rural and sparsely populated until well into the 20th century. There were many apple orchards in the northern part of the town, and dairy and vegetable farms in the remainder of the town. It is believed one of the largest was Brookside Dairy Farm, just west of the city of Newburgh on the north side of the old Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike (now Route 17K). The farm was owned by the Stewart family (which gave both Stewart Avenue on the site and Stewart International Airport their names) and ran as far north as South Plank Road, now also known as Route 52. It was known in its day for its state of the art facilities which produced dairy products in an innovative and scientific way. The farm also included an ice business on the banks of Brookside Pond. After World War II, the southern part of the farm became a popular drive-in theater, and the northern part was the site of a baseball stadium known as Tarr Oval, which was used by the Newburgh Little League for many years. The PepsiCo bottling plant and corporate offices are now located on the site of Tarr Oval.
Since Orange Lake is nearly 600 feet above sea level, its outlet stream (sometimes called Bushfield Creek) powered many varied mills as it wound its way to the Hudson River, including a saw mill, grist mill and coinage mill right at the outlet from the lake, all owned by Thomas Machin. A flour mill stood where the stream now travels beneath Route 300. In a different part of town, the Gidney family operated a grist mill on Gidneytown Creek. Today, the site of the Gidney Mill is owned by the town, and the old brick chimney from the mill remains standing and is marked by an historic site marker. The animal control center for the town is also located on this property. The old gunpowder mills in what is now Algonquin Park today serve as the focal point of the only historic district in the town. For many years, there was a bleachery owned by the Chadwick Family.
In the 19th century, hamlets sprung up throughout the town, between farms. These were small communities which (typically) consisted of a general store, a church, sometimes a cemetery, and a post office, quite often in the home of the postmaster or as part of the general store. Each hamlet also included a few scattered homes, often of tradespeople.
The population of the town of Newburgh was only 4,246 in 1900 and 6,092 in 1940, on the eve of World War II. However, after World War II the population skyrocketed as more and more farmland and forestland was converted to housing developments. Many of the new residents of the town in the 1940s and 1950s were World War II veterans who were able to purchase their own homes under the provisions of the G.I. Bill. Also, the booming economy after World War II allowed many families to afford to purchase automobiles, which made residency in the suburbs away from central city cores practical for the first time. In addition, parents of baby boomer children desired to raise these children in a suburban or rural atmosphere as opposed to crowded city life.
Also after World War II, the costs of continued farming, especially shipping costs, made farming more and more unprofitable. Many farm owners subdivided their farms for home building, and some were forced by financial reasons to do so. This post-World War II housing explosion pretty well petered out by the time of the energy crisis and recession in the early to mid-1970s. This lull in new housing was also a result of the departure of many major employers who left the city of Newburgh and other surrounding communities to relocate in southern states, where the cost of labor was much cheaper. This exodus of local employment climaxed with the closing of Stewart Air Force Base—by far the region's largest employer—in 1970. There are several housing developments—Wedgewood Park being perhaps the most prominent example—which received subdevelopment and building approval in the 1960s but were not actually built until many years later.
Home building started again in the late 1980s as more and more New York City, Westchester County, and Rockland County residents fled urban sprawl and spiraling tax rates. While in the 1950s and 1960s a drive of two to three hours one way to commute to work was unacceptable, by the 1990s many people considered it routine.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the town grew by 3,000 just in the five-year period from 2000 to 2005 alone. Since 2000, homes in virtually every part of the town are being built on lots which twenty years ago were considered unsuitable for this purpose.
The town became less and less a residential suburb for local employees and more and more a "bedroom" community for commuters to jobs outside the region.
In 1960, the population was 15,547. It went over 20,000 by 1970, and nearly exceeded 30,000 in the 21st century.
On January 5, 2010, the United States Census Bureau opened an office at 1437 Route 300, just south of the intersection with Route 52, which oversaw the 2010 census count in Orange, Sullivan and Delaware counties.
While the census count in 2010 showed that, for the first time in history the population of the town of Newburgh exceeded that of the city of Newburgh, the population increase was not sufficient to render the town the most populous municipality in Orange County. The towns of Monroe and Warwick, located in the southern part of Orange County in the path of commuter routes, both greatly exceeded the town of Newburgh in 2010, despite both being rural farm communities of less than 10,000 each fifty years earlier.
Geography.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (7.04%) is water.
The north town line and about one third of the west town line is the border of Ulster County, New York, and the east town line, marked by the Hudson River, is the border of Dutchess County, New York.
The town of Newburgh is bordered on the north by the town of Plattekill (Ulster County) and the town of Marlborough (Ulster County), which includes the hamlet of Marlboro. It is bordered on the west by the town of Shawangunk (Ulster County) which includes the hamlet of Wallkill and by the town of Montgomery (Orange County), which includes the villages of Walden, Montgomery and Maybrook. The entire southern boundary is with the town of New Windsor (Orange County) with the exception of a quadrant, nearly a perfect quadrilateral in shape, adjoining the town at its southeast corner. This is the city of Newburgh. The eastern boundary of the town of Newburgh is the Hudson River, which separates it from the Dutchess County towns of Poughkeepsie, Wappinger, and Fishkill.
Topography.
The town of Newburgh has a hilly terrain. Although bounded on the east by the Hudson River, access to that river is severely limited from the town because most of the shoreline is typified by steep bluffs.
Several hills in the town of Newburgh exceed above sea level. The southern tip of Marlboro Mountain, most of which including the summit is located in Ulster County, extends southward into the town of Newburgh east of Pressler Road and west of Frozen Ridge Road. While the peak of the mountain in Ulster County is over above sea level, the southernmost extremity of the mountain in the town of Newburgh is over . Fox Hill, in the northwestern corner of the town near the boundary with the town of Shawangunk, also exceeds . Its sister peak of Kings Hill, across Route 300, is also over high. Straddling the border with the town of Shawangunk, it is dominated by a large Christian cross, lit at night, erected and maintained at the summit by the private property owner.
The most prominent elevation in the town, due to its central location, is Cronomer Hill. The summit of Cronomer Hill, the name of which derives from an Indian chief who allegedly lived atop the hill during Revolutionary War times, is above sea level. Most of Cronomer Hill is now a park owned and maintained by Orange County and remains heavily forested. The summit, accessible by auto via a road intersecting with Route 32, features an observation tower from which can be seen views of major portions of the mid Hudson Valley, including the Newburgh Beacon Bridge in its entirely, much of Dutchess County across the Hudson, and major portions of Stewart Airport to the southwest, as well as much of the city of Newburgh and town of New Windsor. A cell phone tower is at the summit of Cronomer Hill.
Another prominent elevation in the town is Prospect Hill, behind Fostertown School, about above sea level. Prospect Hill is traversed on its eastern side by Frozen Ridge Road, so called due to the name popularly given to the steep ridge north of Prospect Hill.
Prospect Hill Road is in the extreme northwest corner of the town of Newburgh, nowhere near Prospect Hill itself.
The two Rossville hills flank either side of New York Route 32 just south of the town border, near the intersection with East Road. They are each about above sea level. Other elevations in the town of Newburgh worthy of mention are Soap Hill and Cedar Cliff, each overlooking the Hudson in the extreme northeast corner of town. Although each is less than above sea level, their close proximity to the Hudson River renders them picturesque.
Demographics.
At the census of 2000, there were 27,568 people, 9,765 households, and 7,519 families residing in the town. The population density was 631.0 people per square mile (243.6/km2). There were 10,122 housing units at an average density of 231.7 per square mile (89.5/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 85.08% White, 7.56% Black or African American, 0.15% Native American, 2.06% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.07% from other races, and 2.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.59% of the population.
There were 9,765 households, out of which 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.6% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.0% were non-families. 17.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.19.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.2% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.7 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $60,017, and the median income for a family was $66,706. Males had a median income of $45,398 versus $32,432 for females. The per capita income for the town was $24,749. About 2.4% of families and 3.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.8% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.
In 2018, the American Community Survey estimated the town of Newburgh's population to be 30,697. Non-Hispanic whites made up 81.2% of the population, followed by Blacks or African Americans (10.1%), American Indian or Alaskan Natives (0.1%), Asians (2.0%), some other race (0.2%), and persons of two or more races (2.4%). The Hispanic or Latin American population of any race was 18.8%.
The median income for a household from 2014-2018 was $87,602 and the mean income was $105,061, making the town of Newburgh wealthier than the city of Newburgh.
Education.
An 1875 map on display at Town Hall indicates that at that time 14 different school districts existed in Newburgh, each of which had its own schoolhouse, each of which elected its own school board, and each of which hired its own teachers. As late as the mid-1950s, it was common in the town for one teacher to teach more than one grade in one classroom.
In the post-World War II era, with the first explosion in population in the town (as the town began the transition from rural to suburban) as well as with "Baby boomers" beginning their schooling, the need came about for larger and more modern school buildings. During the 1950s, new elementary schools were built in Balmville, Gardnertown, East Coldenham, Leptondale and Union Grove. Fostertown School retained its older building, but the first of several modern additions was constructed in 1957.
Each of these elementary schools had their own locally elected school boards. Each had clearly defined boundaries which determined which elementary school each student would attend. Attendance at high school was not universal prior to World War II, but after that time most Newburgh students attended the two junior high schools (North Junior High and South Junior High) and one high school (Newburgh Free Academy, popularly known as NFA) in the city of Newburgh.
In 1963, the Newburgh Enlarged City School District was formed. It consisted of the entire city of Newburgh and most of the town of New Windsor. In addition, it absorbed the following school districts within the town of Newburgh: Balmville (District One), Orange Lake (District Three), Fostertown (District Four), Gardnertown (District Eight), and Union Grove (District Eleven).
Roseton (District Five) and Middlehope (District Nine) joined the Unified Marlboro School District in Ulster County, much to the distress of the Newburgh School officials, who were counting on the tax revenue from the Central Hudson power plants in Roseton, which at the time consisted of about 55% of the total tax base in the town of Newburgh (today that ratio is about 32%).
East Coldenham (District Ten) joined the Valley Central School District, centered in the town of Montgomery.
Leptondale (District Fourteen), due to physical proximity, always sent its students to Wallkill Middle School and Wallkill High School, in Ulster County, which is much closer than Newburgh Free Academy (NFA). For this reason, Leptondale is a part of the Wallkill Central School District. Both schools were built by the Borden family, of dairy fame. In fact, Wallkill Middle School was renamed John G. Borden School in 2004.
There are four different school districts in the town of Newburgh–each of them headquartered in a different surrounding municipality.
The new Meadow Hill Elementary School, built in 1970 in what was at that time the fastest growing portion of the town, replaced Union Grove school, which was eventually demolished.
In the early 1970s, the courts mandated busing to achieve racial balance. In response, the elementary schools in the Newburgh Enlarged City School District, including those within the town of Newburgh, became magnet schools. Geography no longer determines which elementary school each student attends.
School taxes in the Newburgh Enlarged City School District and in the Wallkill School District are still collected by school district tax collectors who are employees of those school districts. School taxes in these districts cannot be accepted by the Receiver of Taxes at Newburgh Town Hall. School taxes in the Marlboro and Valley Central School Districts, on the other hand, "must" be paid to the Town of Newburgh Receiver of Taxes because these school districts do not have their own tax collectors on their payrolls.
There are a total of 13,027 taxable parcels of property in the town of Newburgh.
Government.
The old building on the corner of NY 300 and Gardnertown Road dates back to the early 20th century and was originally Gardnertown Elementary School. When the current school, now called Gardnertown Magnet School, was built in the mid-1950s, this building became Newburgh Town Hall. It remained so until 1973, when the current town hall was built right next door. At that point, the historic old building became police headquarters. When the current police headquarters was built in the late 1980s, adjacent but in the other direction, facing Gardnertown Road, this building became a secondary town hall, housing the code compliance, building, zoning, and planning board offices.
Like all of the towns within New York State, Newburgh is governed by a town board. In Newburgh, the board consists of four councilpersons, and a town supervisor who presides and exercises limited executive authority. The supervisor is elected to a two-year term, in odd numbered years. The four councilpersons are elected to four-year terms, but are staggered so that two are elected in each odd numbered year. A aown clerk is also elected to a two-year term, concurrent with the supervisor, and a receiver of axes is elected to a four-year term. Unlike most towns in New York State, the assessor of real property is not an elected official, but is appointed by the town board. Likewise the superintendent of highways is appointed, not elected. Two town justices are elected to four-year terms: one in odd numbered years; the other (due to a midterm death in 1997) in even numbered years. The town justices (formerly called justices of the peace) are the chief judicial officials of the town, and since 1963 no longer sit as members of the town board, as had previously been the case.
Newburgh is one of twenty towns in Orange County. There are also three cities in Orange County. Despite its size, it is one of only eight towns in the county to contain no incorporated villages.
Transportation.
Stewart International Airport is located partially in the town of Newburgh but mostly in the town of New Windsor.
U.S. Route 9W, New York Route 17K, New York Route 32, New York Route 52, New York Route 207 and New York Route 300 all pass through the town. Two roads in the town of Newburgh are owned and maintained by Orange County: County Route 23 (known locally as Rock Cut Road and Forest Road) and County Route 86 (Fostertown Road). All other public roads are maintained by the Town Highway Department, headquartered at 90 Gardnertown Road. However, there are many private roads in the Town of Newburgh.
Interstate 84 passes through from east to west and has a junction with Interstate 87 (the New York State Thruway). In 2011, the NYSDOT administered the milling and repaving of Interstate 84 through the town from the Interstate 87 interchange to the NY 17K exit. This work also included replacing steel bridge joints with epoxy-based bridge joints. The prime contractor was Tilcon New York Inc., a West Nyack, New York based contractor.