Newburgh () is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. It forms part of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area, which is a part of the New York metropolitan area, and is a suburban satellite of the urbanized city of Newburgh. The city of Newburgh was 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.
As of the 2020 census, the population of the town is 31,985. 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).Figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau and reported on page 5 of the Middletown (N.Y.) Times Herald Record, March 25, 2011. Estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau during 2018 show the Newburgh township's population exceeded 30,000. As of 2020 the town and neighboring city of Newburgh had a combined population of 60,842.
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)."Robert 'Bob' John Kirkpatrick, Jr.," Gil Piaquadio has been the Town of Newburgh Supervisor since 2014 Times Herald Record. April 18, 2015. Accessed May 4, 2015."Former Town of Newburgh Supervisor Dies at 87," Orange County Post-Sentinel. April 24, 2015, page 3.State of New York Legislative Resolution Senate No. 1849 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.Article by Judy Rife in the Middletown (NY) Times Herald Record Tuesday, July 14, 2009, page 31.Article by Judy Rife in the Middletown (NY) Times Herald Record Tuesday, September 22, 2009, page 28.Article by Meghan Fitzpatrick on page one of "The Sentinel" newspaper, December 8, 2009.
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 Encyclopedia of New York State (2005), Syracuse University Press, pages 1043-1044 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.Article by Mary McTamaney, City Historian of the City of Newburgh, in the Mid Hudson Times, March 12, 2008, page 10. 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.Favata, Patricia A., Around Orange Lake, Images of America series, 2007, Syracuse University Press.
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.American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on January 31, 2008. 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.Orange County Ready Reference published by the office of the County Clerk March 2007
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.Article by Meghan Fitzpatrick on pages 1 and 3 of The Sentinel newspaper, January 8, 2010.
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.The Ready Reference of County, City, Town and Village Officers published by the office of the County Clerk of Orange County, New York, April 2010.
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 northern town line and approximately one third of the western town line is the border of Ulster County, and the eastern town line, marked by the Hudson River, is the border of Dutchess County.
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.