Orange County, New York

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Orange County, New York
Seal
Location in the state of New York (state)
New York's location in the U.S.
Founded	1683
Seat	Goshen
Largest city	Newburgh
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	839 sq mi (2,173 km²) 816 sq mi (2,113 km²) 22 sq mi (57 km²), 2.72%
Population  - (2020)  - Density	401,310 457/sq mi (176.4/km²)
Website	www.orangecountygov.com

Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located at the northern reaches of the New York metropolitan area. The county sits in the state's scenic Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. Its name is in honor of William III of Orange, who was greatly esteemed by the original settlers of the region. As of the 2020 census, the population was 401,310. The County Executive is Ed Diana, and the county seat is Goshen. The center of population of New York is located in Orange County, in Deerpark.

History

Orange County was one of the first twelve counties established by the Province of New York in 1683. Its boundaries at that time included present-day Rockland County, which split from Orange County in 1798. Due to its small population, the original Orange County was not fully independent and shared government functions with other counties. The first public buildings were erected in Orangetown in 1703, and the first court was established in 1801.

Due to a boundary dispute between New York and New Jersey, the extent of many of the southern towns of the county was not established until the 19th Century.

Notable Orange County residents, past and present

• George Washington, 1st President of the United States, leader of the American Revolutionary War
• William Seward, U.S. Secretary of State
• Whoopi Goldberg, Academy Award winning actress
• Marisa Anderson, Psychic and Sensitive works with Police and CID featured in Hans Holzer Books.
• Paul Teutul, Sr., custom motorcycle builder of Orange County Choppers
• Paul Teutul, Jr., custom motorcycle builder of Paul Jr. Designs, formerly with Orange County Choppers
• Geraldine Ferraro, 1984 U.S. Vice-Presidential Candidate, U.S. Congresswoman
• James Patterson, author
• Spencer Tunick, photographer
• Noah Webster, lexicographer, author
• Elizabeth Marie Pope, author of The Sherwood Ring – a Revolutionary War novel also set in Orange County
• Stephen Crane, author of The Red Badge of Courage
• Pierre Lorillard, tobacco magnate
• Tony Gilroy, Writer, producer, director. (The Bourne Ultimatum, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Identity, Proof of Life, The Devil's Advocate, Michael Clayton.
• James Mangold, screenwriter, director. (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma, Cop Land).
• Armand Assante, actor
• Emily Post, author
• Barry Bostwick, actor
• Saul Williams, musician, poet, actor and artist was born and raised in Newburgh
• Cage Kennylz, rapper was raised in Middletown
• Derek Jeter, The Yankee captain owns a residence in Warwick
• Cyndi Lauper, used to spend summers in Tuxedo Park
• Greg Anthony, former New York Knicks player
• Tim Hummel, former major league baseball player for the Cincinnati Reds.
• Mike Aviles, baseball player for the Kansas City Royals
• Matt Morris, former baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates
• Joe Nathan, baseball player for the Minnesota Twins
• Dee Brown, former major league baseball player, current Nippon Professional Baseball player
• Rob Bell, former major league baseball pitcher
• Dave Telgheder, former MLB pitcher for the New York Mets and the Oakland Athletics
• Brian Cashman, General Manager, New York Yankees
• Scott Pioli, General Manager, Kansas City Chiefs
• Rose Thompson Hovick, stage mother of Gypsy Rose Lee and June Havoc
• Nathaniel White, serial killer
• Solomon Townsend, industrialist and State Legislator
• J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur, 18th century writer, author of Letters from an American Farmer
• Frank Shorter, Olympic Gold Medalist
• Emily DiDonato, fashion model, spokesmodel for Maybelline
• General David Petraeus, Commander-in-Chief, USCENTCOM and former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq.
• Mel Gibson attended school in Washingtonville the year before his family moved to Australia in the 1960s.
• Tomás Estrada Palma, First President of Cuba, lived in a home on Route 32 in Central Valley. Estrada Road (Old U.S. Route 6) through Central Valley, is named after him.
• Benedict Arnold, revolutionary war general and defector.
• Geoffrey Morgan, 2005, 2006 NYS High School Swimming Champion in the 100 Butterfly. Attended Cornwall High School

Law and government

Originally, like most New York counties, Orange County was governed by a 37 member Board of Supervisors consisting of the 20 town supervisors, 9 city supervisors elected from the 9 wards of the City of Newburgh and four each elected from the wards of the Cities of Middletown and Port Jervis. In 1968, the board adopted a county charter and a reapportionment plan that created the county legislature and executive. The first county executive and legislature were elected in November, 1969 and took office on January 1, 1970. Today, Orange County is still governed by the same charter calling for an elected county executive and a 21 member county legislature elected from 21 single member districts. There are also several state constitutional positions including a Sheriff, County Clerk and District Attorney. Prior to January 1, 2008 four coroners were also elected; however, on that date, the county switched to a medical examiner system.

The Current County Officers are:

• County Executive: Edward A. Diana (Republican)
• County Clerk: Donna L. Benson (Republican)
• Sheriff: Carl E. DuBois (Republican)
• District Attorney: Francis D. Phillips (Republican)

The County Legislature and its previous board of supervisors were long dominated by the Republican Party. However, in past years the Democrats have closed the gap. During 2008 and 2009 the legislature was evenly split between 10 Republicans, 10 Democrats and 1 Independence Party member. In 2009, the legislature had its first Democratic chairman elected when one member of the Republican caucus voted alongside the 10 Democratic members to elect Roxanne Donnery (D)-Highlands/Woodbury to the post. However, at the November 2009 election several Democratic incumbents were defeated. As of the convening of the current legislature on January 1, 2012 there are 12 Republicans, 8 Democrats and 1 Independence member.

Orange County Executives

Name	Party	Term
Louis V. Mills	Republican	January 1, 1970 – December 31, 1977
Louis Heimbach	Republican	January 1, 1978 – December 31, 1989
Mary McPhillips	Democrat	January 1, 1990 – December 31, 1993
Joseph G. Rampe	Republican	January 1, 1994 – December 31, 2001
Edward A. Diana	Republican	January 1, 2002 – present

Orange County Legislature

District	Legislator	Party	Residence
1	Michael Amo	Independence	Central Valley
2	Melissa Bonacic majority leader	Republican	New Hampton
3	Michael Pillmeier chairman	Republican	Florida
4	Harvey Burger	Democrat	Newburgh
5	Katie Bonelli	Republican	Blooming Grove
6	Patrick J. Berardinelli	Republican	Newburgh
7	Myrna Kemnitz	Democrat	Monroe
8	Daniel Castricone	Republican	Tuxedo
9	L. Stephen Brescia	Republican	Montgomery
10	Albert Buckbee	Republican	Warwick
11	Matthew Turnbull	Democrat	Hamptonburgh
12	Kevin Hines	Republican	Cornwall
13	Dennis W. Simmons	Republican	Port Jervis
14	Roxanne Donnery	Democrat	Highland Falls
15	Christopher Eachus	Democrat	New Windsor
16	Leigh Benton	Republican	Newburgh
17	Mike Anagnostakis	Republican	Maybrook
18	Vacant
19	Michael Paduch	Democrat	Middletown
20	Jeffrey Berkman minority leader	Democrat	Middletown
21	Thomas Pahucki	Democrat	New Hampton

Geography

Orange County is in southeastern New York State, directly north of the New Jersey-New York border, west of the Hudson River, east of the Delaware River and northwest of New York City. It borders the New York counties of Dutchess, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester, as well as Passaic and Sussex counties in New Jersey and Pike County in Pennsylvania.

Orange County is the only county in New York State which borders both the Hudson and Delaware Rivers.

Orange County is where the Great Valley of the Appalachians finally opens up and ends. The western corner is set off by the Shawangunk Ridge. The area along the Rockland County border (within Harriman and Bear Mountain state parks) and south of Newburgh is part of the Hudson Highlands. The land in between is the valley of the Wallkill River. In the southern portion of the county the Wallkill valley expands into a wide glacial lake bed known as the Black Dirt Region for its fertility.

The highest point is Schunemunk Mountain, at 1,664 feet (507 m) above sea level. The lowest is sea level along the Hudson.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 839 square miles (2,170 km²), with 816 square miles (2,110 km²) as land and 22 square miles (57 km²) as water.

National protected areas

• Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River (part)
• Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Adjacent counties

• Ulster County – north
• Dutchess County – northeast
• Putnam County – east
• Rockland County – southeast
• Passaic County, New Jersey – south
• Sussex County, New Jersey – south
• Pike County, Pennsylvania – southwest
• Sullivan County – northwest

Economy

Transportation

Short Line Bus provides most local and commuter bus service.

The county is served by Stewart International Airport, located two miles west of Newburgh, New York. The airport serves Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Northwest Airlines, and US Airways. AirTran Airways stopped providing service to the airport in late 2008. Ground transportation within Orange County is provided primarily by New Jersey Transit, Short Line Bus, and Metro-North Railroad's Port Jervis Line, as well as amenities such as senior citizen bussing and car services, which usually restrict themselves to their respective town or city. The Port Jervis Line experienced major damage from Tropical Storm Irene in August 2011. As a result, train service was suspended for north of Suffern. now operational as of 12/02/2011. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has contracted an engineering firm to assess the damage and determine a plan to repair damaged track beds. In the meantime, the MTA is running 55 buses from 8 stations 24 hours a day 7 days a week to supplement the lost train service. The MTA has pledged to continue the buses until the trackbeds are repaired and the trains run again.

Demographics

Historical populations
of Orange County

Year Population 1790 18,492 1800 29,355 1810 34,347 1820 41,213 1830 45,336 1840 50,739 1850 57,145 1860 63,812 1870 80,902 1880 88,220 1890 97,859

Year Population 1900 103,859 1910 116,001 1920 119,844 1930 130,383 1940 140,113 1950 152,255 1960 183,734 1970 221,657 1980 259,603 1990 307,647 2000 341,367 2010 372,813

The Orange County Government Center in Goshen, N.Y., designed by Paul Rudolph.

As of the census of 2000, there were 341,367 people, 114,788 households, and 84,483 families residing in the county. The population density was 418 people per square mile (161/km²). There were 122,754 housing units at an average density of 150 per square mile (58/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 83.70% White, 8.09% Black or African American, 0.35% Native American, 1.51% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.09% from other races, and 2.23% from two or more races. 11.64% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 18.3% were of Italian, 17.4% Irish, 10.2% German and 5.0% Polish ancestry according to Census 2000. 9.23% reported speaking Spanish at home, 3.29% Yiddish, and 1.20% Italian.

By 2005, census estimates placed Orange County's non-Hispanic white population at 72.4%. African Americans were now 10.2% of the population. Native Americans were at 0.4%, a change that was less than can be measured by the precision of the 2005 estimates being used for these figures. Asians were up to 2.2% of the population. Latinos had however made the largest gain as an increase in their percentage of the population, and now constituted 14.9% of the county's population.

There were 114,788 households out of which 39.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.90% were married couples living together, 11.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.40% were non-families. 21.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.85 and the average family size was 3.35.

In the county the population was spread out with 29.00% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 30.00% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 10.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 100.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $52,058, and the median income for a family was $60,355. Males had a median income of $42,363 versus $30,821 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,597. About 7.60% of families and 10.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.80% of those under age 18 and 8.00% of those age 65 or over.

Despite its rural roots, Orange County is considered to be among the fastest growing suburb/exurb regions of the New York City Metropolitan Area.

Government

In 1970, the county switched from government by a Board of Supervisors consisting of the elected heads of town governments to having a 21-member elected county legislature and executive. The sheriff, district attorney and county clerk have always been elected. All serve four-year terms, with elections in the year following presidential election years, save the sheriff, whose election is the following year.

The current county executive is Edward Diana, a former county legislator. Frank Phillips, Donna Benson and Carl DuBois are the incumbent district attorney, clerk and sheriff respectively. All are Republicans, and the legislature currently has a 13–8 Republican majority.

Only one Democrat, Mary McPhillips, has served as county executive. She failed to win re-election after a single term in the early 1990s. For several years in the late 2000s, one Republican legislator's decision to become an independent and caucus with the Democrats led to a 10-10-1 effective Democratic majority, with Roxanne Donnery as chair. The Republicans regained their majority in the 2009 elections.

Politics

United States presidential election results for Orange County, New York

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	85,068	49.30%	84,955	49.24%	2,516	1.46%
2016	76,645	50.42%	68,278	44.91%	7,098	4.67%
2012	65,367	46.48%	73,315	52.13%	1,946	1.38%
2008	72,042	47.40%	78,326	51.54%	1,614	1.06%
2004	79,089	54.67%	63,394	43.82%	2,190	1.51%
2000	62,852	49.66%	58,170	45.96%	5,535	4.37%
1996	45,956	40.12%	54,995	48.01%	13,587	11.86%
1992	53,493	43.66%	45,946	37.50%	23,081	18.84%
1988	65,446	62.44%	38,465	36.70%	899	0.86%
1984	69,413	67.78%	32,663	31.89%	337	0.33%
1980	51,268	56.67%	30,022	33.18%	9,180	10.15%
1976	49,685	54.80%	40,362	44.51%	626	0.69%
1972	63,556	71.00%	25,778	28.80%	181	0.20%
1968	44,955	56.09%	28,122	35.09%	7,072	8.82%
1964	30,610	38.78%	48,244	61.13%	70	0.09%
1960	48,646	60.67%	31,471	39.25%	65	0.08%
1956	57,739	77.54%	16,722	22.46%	0	0.00%
1952	51,217	71.23%	20,585	28.63%	98	0.14%
1948	38,351	62.84%	20,638	33.82%	2,042	3.35%
1944	39,041	61.71%	24,059	38.03%	162	0.26%
1940	38,913	58.35%	27,632	41.43%	145	0.22%
1936	34,428	54.41%	27,528	43.50%	1,320	2.09%
1932	30,687	56.39%	22,971	42.21%	765	1.41%
1928	37,334	64.10%	19,047	32.70%	1,859	3.19%
1924	29,184	67.74%	9,765	22.67%	4,134	9.60%
1920	24,558	66.13%	10,567	28.46%	2,010	5.41%
1916	13,619	56.06%	10,198	41.98%	478	1.97%
1912	10,364	43.14%	9,404	39.14%	4,258	17.72%
1908	14,414	57.03%	9,938	39.32%	924	3.66%
1904	14,222	56.93%	9,882	39.55%	879	3.52%
1900	14,137	57.12%	10,180	41.13%	432	1.75%
1896	14,086	59.52%	8,971	37.91%	610	2.58%
1892	11,081	48.70%	10,421	45.80%	1,252	5.50%
1888	11,261	49.49%	10,852	47.69%	640	2.81%
1884	9,968	48.32%	9,841	47.70%	822	3.98%

In recent years, Orange County has mirrored the preferences of the nation as a whole in presidential elections, voting for the winner in every election from 1996 to 2016. The streak ended in 2020, however, as Orange County narrowly voted to re-elect Donald Trump, even as Democratic nominee Joe Biden of Delaware won the election overall.

Bill Clinton won Orange County 48% to 42% in 1996. George W. Bush won 47% of the Orange County vote in 2000, and 54% in 2004. Barack Obama carried the county with a 51% vote share four years later and carried the county again in 2012. However, Donald Trump won the county in 2016, thus making it one of 206 counties across the country to vote for Obama twice and then Trump. In 2020, Trump again won Orange County, this time by just 312 votes out of nearly 170,000 votes cast, a margin of about 0.2 percentage points. Despite this, it was only the fourth-closest county in the state and one of five that Trump won by less than 500 votes.

Previously, like most of the Lower Hudson, Orange County had leaned Republican. From 1884 to 1992, a Republican carried Orange County at all but one presidential election. The only time this tradition was broken was in 1964, during Democrat Lyndon Johnson's 44-state landslide. As a measure of how Republican the county was, Franklin Roosevelt, a resident of nearby Dutchess County, failed to carry Orange County in any of his four successful presidential bids.

The presidential election results give the county a Cook PVI of R+1, consistent with county voters' willingness to sometimes elect Democrats, such as U.S. Rep. John Hall. From 2007 on, when Hall represented the 19th district, which covered most of the county, Orange's representation in Congress was exclusively Democratic, as Maurice Hinchey had represented the towns of Crawford, Montgomery, and Newburgh as well as the city of Newburgh, all of which were in what was then the 22nd district, since 1988.

In the 2010 midterms, Hall was defeated by Nan Hayworth. In 2012, after Hinchey's former 22nd district was eliminated in redistricting following his retirement and all of Orange County was included in the current 18th district. Hayworth was defeated by Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton and the first openly gay person to be elected to Congress from New York. Maloney won a rematch against Hayworth in 2014; in 2016 he was again re-elected over Phil Oliva, and in 2018, despite running in the Democratic primary for New York Attorney General, he won re-election again over James O'Donnell.

At the state level, Republicans had held onto Senate seats (until 2018), when John Bonacic retired after 26 years, and the 42nd district, was won by Democrat Jen Metzger for 1 term, returning to GOP Mike Martucci in 2020. State Senate districts—the 39th, is held by Democrat James Skoufis since 2016. Democrats have also made significant gains in the county's State Assembly seats. The 98th district, which includes the far western part of the county as well as the Town of Warwick, is represented by Karl Brabenec, and the 101st district, which includes the Towns of Crawford and Montgomery, was until 2016 held by Claudia Tenney, both Republicans. After Tenney left her seat to run for Congress that year, Brian D. Miller, another Republican, was elected to replace her. Colin Schmitt represents the 99th district, while the other two are Democrats: Aileen Gunther in the 100th district (Middletown) and Jonathan Jacobson in the 104th district (Newburgh).

Cities and towns

Cities

• Middletown
• Newburgh
• Port Jervis

Villages

• Chester
• Cornwall on Hudson
• Florida
• Goshen
• Greenwood Lake
• Harriman
• Highland Falls
• Kiryas Joel
• Maybrook
• Monroe
• Montgomery
• Otisville
• South Blooming Grove
• Tuxedo Park
• Unionville
• Walden
• Warwick
• Washingtonville
• Woodbury

Towns

• Blooming Grove
• Chester
• Cornwall
• Crawford
• Deerpark
• Goshen
• Greenville
• Hamptonburgh
• Highlands
• Minisink
• Monroe
• Montgomery
• Mount Hope
• New Windsor
• Town of Newburgh
• Tuxedo
• Wallkill
• Warwick
• Wawayanda
• Woodbury

Hamlets

There are many hamlets (unincorporated communities) in Orange County. See the town listings.

Movies/TV Filmed In Orange County

• In and Out: Warwick, NY
• Super Troopers: Parts in Newburgh area
• The Sopranos; Season 6 parts of season 6-b, Episode 1: Warwick and Tuxedo
• Michael Clayton: Moodna Viaduct (Cornwall), Blooming Grove, and Stewart Airport (New Windsor/Newburgh area)
• The Human Footprint: parts filmed in the Hudson Valley region; aired on National Geographic Channel in 2008
• American Chopper: Montgomery, NY

Points of interest

Points of interest in Orange County include the United States Military Academy at West Point; Brotherhood Winery, America's oldest winery, in Washingtonville; the birthplace of William H. Seward in Florida; the home and birthplace of Velveeta and Liederkranz Cheese in Monroe; the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame in Goshen; the Times Herald-Record newspaper, the first cold press offset daily in the country, in Middletown; the Galleria at Crystal Run, in Wallkill; the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Monroe; and the Orange County Fair in Wallkill. The only state parks include Goosepond Mountain State Park, Harriman State Park and Sterling Forest State Park. It is also the location of Orange County Choppers, the custom motorcycle shop featured on The Discovery Channel television series American Chopper.

Middletown

Newburgh

Port Jervis

Florida

Goshen

Maybrook

Monroe

Montgomery

Walden

Warwick

Washingtonville

Woodbury

Sports in Orange County

Delano-Hitch Stadium in Newburgh has played host to various professional and amateur teams from various leagues since opening in 1926. The most recent professional team to play their home games at Delano-Hitch Stadium was the Newburgh Black Diamonds.

High School Sports

High schools in Orange County compete in Section 9 of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association along with schools from Dutchess, Ulster, and Sullivan counties.

College Sports

The Army Black Knights of the United States Military Academy in West Point field NCAA Division I teams in 24 different sports. The Orange County Community College Colts compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association. Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh fields 15 teams in the Eastern College Athletic Conference and the Skyline Conference of NCAA Division III.

Orange County Youth Football League (OCYFL)

The Orange County Youth Football League (O.C.Y.F.L.) is a non-profit organization that allows youth age 6 through 14 to play competitive American football. The League encompasses 15 towns with over 100 teams in Orange County and surrounding areas including Chester, Cornwall, Goshen, Highland Falls, Marlboro, Middletown, Minisink Valley, Monticello, Newburgh, New Windsor, Pine Bush, Port Jervis, Valley Central, Wallkill, Warwick and Washingtonville. It is composed of 4 Divisions, divided by weight restrictions, and a "Mighty Mite" Flag Football division for 6 & 7 year olds. In each division, there is additionally a complete cheerleading program for each team. There is a comprehensive annual schedule of play within each division for all teams, culminating in a divisional Championship game, often played in Michie Stadium or Shea Stadium at the historic United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.

See also

• Orange County Youth Football League
• Wawayanda Patent, 1703 land grant
• Neversink Preserve
• Cuddebackville Dam
• List of counties in New York
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Orange County, New York

External links

• Orange County, New York government
• Orange County, New York information and website directory
• Orange County tourism information
• Orange County, New York, Chamber of Commerce
• Orange County at the Open Directory Project
• Early summary history of Orange County