The Newburgh Historical Society is sponsoring a hike up Snake Hill in New Windsor on Sunday, Oct. 14, at 1PM. Come with us up this well known but less often visited little mountain with Newburgh City Historian Mary McTamaney and Michael McGurty of the New Windsor Cantonment who will tell of the history of the area and also tell stories about Snake Hill. At the summit you will see “Spy Rock” which will give you one of the most scenic vistas of the Hudson River Valley. Bring cameras and comfortable walking shoes. We will meet at the Crawford House, 189 Montgomery Street, Newburgh, at 1 PM before car-pooling up to the start of the hike. Directions will be provided. Donations of $5.00 per person for non-Society members; members are free. The hike will go on rain or shine. Call 561-2585 for any questions.
On Wednesday, October 10, 2012 at 12 noon, co-author of the book Bannerman Castle, Thom Johnson offers a historical retrospective (in words and photos) of the island, the castle and arsenal, as well as its ownership, ties to the American Revolution, the destructive fire in 1969 and the Bannerman Castle Trust.
Mr. Johnson is one of the authors of the book on the Castle and is an artist/photographer who has been researching the site for over 40 years. He has been doing presentations on the site for the past 20 years and has a large collection of historic images as well as artifacts from the Bannermans.
This event is sponsored by Cultural Affairs at the SUNY Orange Newburgh Campus. It is free and open to the public.
Free, secure parking is available in the Kaplan Hall underground parking garage accessible via First Street.
Ramble over to Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site, in Newburgh, on Saturday, September 22nd or Sunday, September 23rd for a special program entitled “Strange Medicine: Dental and Medical Practices in the Age of Washington.” This Hudson River Valley Ramble event, beginning at 1:00 PM will deal with Revolutionary War medicine and the second program, starting at 2:00 PM will touch upon George Washington and dentistry, answering that age old question, “Were George’s false teeth wooden?” The hours are the same for both days. House tour admission fee includes this program.
The following weekend, Saturday, September 29th and Sunday, September 30th, Washington’s Headquarters will cover the topic “The Officer’s Pride. This, too, is a Hudson River Valley Ramble event taking place at 1:00 PM and again at 2:00 PM both days. At 1:00 PM, hear how Washington effectively utilized dinner invitations to his officers as a means of administering to the needs of the Continental Army. At 2:00 PM, learn what turmoil was experienced by officers as the Revolutionary War drew to a close. House tour admission fee includes this program.
The tent for both events has been generously provided by Classic Tent and Party Rentals, South Street, Newburgh, NY.
Call 845-562-1195 for further details or directions.
Civic Time: the Tradition of a Town Clock Sunday, September 16th, 3pm
In the tower of Ebenezer Baptist Church is a national treasure, a beautiful 1870’s mechanical clock that is the last of its kind still at work. James Storrow, who helped restore this old masterpiece will describe that process with detailed illustrations. The program will be held at the Newburgh Heritage Center/Old Courthouse 123 Grand Street.
To read more about this National Treasure click here for an article.
On September 12, 2012, The Newburgh Heritage Collection will go “live” for researchers on www.hrvh.org. The mission of Hudson River Valley Heritage is to provide universal access to a collaborative digital record of Hudson River Valley history and creativity. HRVH provides access to historical materials contributed by colleges, libraries, archives, historical societies, museums and cultural organizations from the following counties in New York State: Columbia, Greene, Dutchess, Ulster, Sullivan, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, and Westchester. These collections include photographs, maps, letters, postcards, manuscripts, scrapbooks, programs from events, memorabilia and ephemera, and audio and video clips. Many of these collections include unique historical resources not previously available in digital format.
For Newburgh’s digital contribution to HRVH, numerous handwritten volumes were scanned and transcribed through the National Park Service Challenge Cost Share Program grant “Founding Brethren” on behalf of the Dutch Reformed Church National Historic Landmark project and by volunteers throughout the past decade. These records include:
Glebe Leases starting in 1791
Fire Department Registers starting in 1797
Assessment rolls 1798, 1801, 1822
Village of Newburgh Trustees’ minutes 1803-1865
Village/Town Slave Registry 1817-1833
Village/Town Birth/Marriage/Death 1847-1849
Associate Reformed Church minutes & sermons 1821-1822
Dutch Reformed Church Consistory minutes beginning in 1835
Alms House case examinations 1853-1858
Board of Alms Commissioners’ minutes starting 1853
Board of Health minutes starting 1865
Board of Water Commissioners’ minutes starting in 1866
Common Council Special Meetings’ minutes 1876-1878
Park Commissioners’ minutes 1894-1915
The collection features documents and volumes from the repositories of several partners, including the Historical Society of Newburgh Bay & the Highlands, the Orange County Genealogical Society, and the City of Newburgh.
The Newburgh Heritage Collection holds primary documents that tell firsthand Newburgh’s story. Palatine Germans arrived in Newburgh in 1709, having been granted a patent by England’s Queen Anne in 1708. Land divisions in 1715 set aside a central area to support school and church through land leases in a European-style glebe. While no records are known to exist for Newburgh’s life as a parish (1709-1796), its fire brigades were granted a charter by New York State to operate officially in 1797. (The volunteer Fire Department remained an independent civic organization through the first decades of the 20th Century.) Three years later, particularly because of the need for administering the water supply for consumption and fire protection, residents were granted a village charter. Essential to the survival of these early communities were census and assessment tallies. Newburgh’s growth soon required the organization of citizens into oversight boards.
As Newburgh Parish grew into a village and town, churches became central to the community’s stability and welfare. Although Newburgh began as a Lutheran parish, within a century, Reformed Protestant churches gained strength and their records tell a tale of social charity and power.
“Newburgh’s wealth of primary materials is an extraordinary heritage that will now be accessible to the public, a tangible legacy I am inexpressibly proud to have been part of,” said City of Newburgh Records Management Officer, Elizabeth McKean.
Economic downturns have occurred, nationally and internationally, since the beginnings of civilization, but surely the deepest and longest-lasting slump in global history occurred following the American Stock Market crash of October 1929. Known as the Great Depression, it impoverished millions of investors in the United States and, by an inevitable domino effect, throughout the world. One half of the country’s banks failed and from thirteen to fifteen million Americans lost their jobs.
The Karpeles Museum will present an exhibition featuring both the Boy Scouts and the Great Depression, with rare and surprising documents on both subjects. Original letters by Herbert Hoover, the president on whose watch the Depression began, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, his political adversary and successor, whose efforts at correcting it with such “New Deal” programs as the Works Progress Administration (WPA) finally brought it to an end.
The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum is located at 94 Broadway, across from City Hall, in the City of Newburgh. The Karpeles Museums are a national chain with nine in the U.S., specializing in the preservation and display of original, historically significant documents and manuscripts. Museum Hours: Thu.-Sat., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and , Sunday, 12 to 4 p.m. Admission is always free. Visit us online: WWW.KARPELES.COM
