Newburgh Area Community Information: A Pleasant Place to Build a Town
Christopher Columbus' First Mate's comments about Newburgh
The thirtieth was faire weather, and the wind at South-east a stiffe gale betweene the Mountaynes. We rode still the after-noone. The people of the Countrey came aboord us, and brought some small skinnes with them, which we bought for Knives and Trifles. This a very pleasant place to build a Towne on. The Road is very neere, and very good for all winds, save an East North-east wind. The Mountaynes looke as if some Metall or Minerall were in them. For the Trees that grow on them were all blasted, and some of them barren with few or no Trees on them. The people brought a stone aboord like to Emery (a stone used by Glasiers to cut Glasse) it would cut Iron or Steele: Yet being bruised small, and water put to it, it made a colour like blacke Lead glistering; It isalso good for Painters Colours. At three of the clocke they departed, and we rode still all night.
from Juet's journal: the voyage of the Half Moon from 4 April to 7 November 1609
by Robert Juet (Christopher Columbus' First Mate on the Half Moon)
September 30, 1609
Notable Locals
Authors and Poets
James Patterson, Novelist (1947- )
Saul Williams, poet, rapper, actor (1972- )
Orange County Authors Library Guide
Artists and Designers
Ellsworth Kelly, artist (1923-2015)
Lee Lorenz, New Yorker cartoonist (1932- )
Andrew Jackson Downing, founder of landscape architecture, influential designer of country houses, early proponent of Central Park in NYC (1815-1852)
Military
Albert Myer, Father of the U.S. Army Signal Corps (1828-1880)
John Ellis Wool, Army Major General whose military career spanned more than 50 years (1784-1869)
The Orange Blossoms, 124th Infantry Regiment Civil War, participated in most major Eastern Civil War battles, Stephen Crane may have based The Red Badge of Courage on his interviews with Orange Blossoms veterans (1862-1865)
Politicians
DeWitt Clinton, seventh governor of NYS, largely responsible for construction of Erie Canal (1769-1828)
George Clinton, first governor of NYS, first elected vice president of the United States under Jefferson and Madison (1739-1812)
Geraldine Ferraro, first woman to run for the U.S. vice presidency on a major party platform (1935-2011)
Performers
William S. Hart, silent film star - the original screen cowboy (1864-1946)
It happened in Newburgh.....
1884 - Newburgh was the second municipally in New York to receive electricity when Thomas Edison built the Montgomery Street generating plant
Things that were made here
- AutomobilesAbendroth and Root Manufacturing Company produced touring cars, runabouts and trucks between 1906 and 1913
- Black powderOrange Mills produced gunpowder in buildings still in existence in Algonquin Park
- GuitarsSteinberger made its distinctive headless guitars here from 1983-1992
- Jeans and overallsSweet-Orr made work pants legendarily used instead of rope in tug-of-war contests
- Lawn mowersThe first widely produced lawn mowers in the US
- ShipsEureka Shipyard built US Navy cargo ships including the USS Newburgh, commissioned in 1919 and the USS New Windsor, later renamed the Alcoa Mariner and sunk by a German U-boat during WWII
- Whale Oil and Whale BoneThe Newburgh Whaling Company sent whale ships around the world from Newburgh beginning in 1832 and ending in 1837 when the industry suffered a downturn and the company's assets were sold
The Delanos and the Roosevelts
Recommended Local History Books
Legends and Myths
- Balmville TreeThought to be a Balm of Gilead tree that gave the neighborhood its name, supposedly sprang to life from George Washington's riding crop, the tree was actually an Eastern Cottonwood that was 33 years older than Washington
- Gat HouseIs gangster Dutch Schultz's treasure hidden inside?
- King George Washington - The Newburgh ConspiracyDid Washington's officers try to make him King while he resided in Newburgh?
Important Buildings
- Belknap House (c. 1760)Revolutionary War headquarters of General James Clinton
- Newburgh Steam Mill (c. 1830's)Also housed Coldwell Lawnmower Company and Regal Bag Corp. Main entrance on the 5th floor and a channel underneath that allowed the river's rising tide to flow through it while never flooding the lower level
- Warren HouseCalvert Vaux design in AJ Downing style