| County: | Orange County |
| State: | New York |
| Ex Image: | Island Pond-Harriman State Park.jpg |
| Ex Image Size: | 250px |
| Flag: | Flag of Orange County, NY.png |
| Seal: | Seal of Orange County, New York (color).png |
| Leader Title: | County Executive |
| Leader Name: | Steven M. Neuhaus (R) |
| Largest City: | Palm Tree[1] |
| City Type: | town |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 839 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 812 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 27 |
| Area Percentage: | 3.2 |
| Census Yr: | 2020 |
| Pop: | 401310[2] |
| Pop Est As Of: | 2023 |
| Pop Est Footnotes: | [3] |
| Population Est: | 407470 |
| Density Sq Mi: | auto |
| Time Zone: | Eastern |
| Web: | www.orangecountygov.com |
| District: | 18th |
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 401,310. The county seat is Goshen.[4] This county was first created in 1683 and reorganized with its present boundaries in 1798.[5] The county is part of the Hudson Valley region of the state.
Orange County is part of the Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh metropolitan statistical area,[6] which belongs to the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY–NJ–CT–PA Combined Statistical Area.
As of the 2010 census the center of population of the state of New York was located in Orange County, approximately 3miles west of the hamlet of Westbrookville.[7]
Orange County was officially established on November 1, 1683 when the Province of New York was divided into twelve counties.[8] Each of these was named to honor a member of the British royal family, and Orange County took its name from the Prince of Orange,[9] who subsequently became King William III of England. As originally defined, Orange County included only the southern part of its present-day territory, plus all of present-day Rockland County further south. The northern part of the present-day county, beyond Moodna Creek, was then a part of neighboring Ulster County.
At that date, the only European inhabitants of the area were a handful of Dutch colonists in present-day Rockland County, and the area of modern Orange County was entirely occupied by the native Munsee people. Due to its relatively small population, the original Orange County was not fully independent and was administered by New York County.
The first European settlers in the area of the present-day county arrived in 1685. They were a party of around twenty-five families from Scotland, led by David Toshach, the Laird of Monzievaird, and his brother-in-law Major Patrick McGregor, a former officer of the French Army. They settled in the Hudson Highlands at the place where the Moodna Creek enters the Hudson River, now known as New Windsor. In 1709, a group of German Palatine refugees settled at Newburgh. They were Protestants from a part of Germany along the Rhine that had suffered during the religious wars. Queen Anne's government arranged for passage from England of nearly 3,000 Palatines in ten ships. Many were settled along the Hudson River in work camps on property belonging to Robert Livingston. In 1712, a 16-year-old indentured servant named Sarah Wells[10] from Manhattan led a small party of three Munsee men and three hired carpenters into the undeveloped interior of the county and created the first settlement in the Town of Goshen on the Otter Kill. She was falsely promised by her master Christopher Denne 100 acres bounty for taking on the dangerous mission to make a land claim for him. He never gave her the land. But, she did fall in love and married Irish immigrant William Bull there in 1718 and they had 12 children and built the Bull Stone House. In 1716, the first known Black woman resident was recorded in Orange County. Her name was Mercy[10] and she was enslaved by Christopher Denne at his settlement on the Otter Kill. Additional immigrants came from Ireland; they were of Scots and English descent who had been settled as planters there.
During the American Revolutionary War the county was divided into Loyalists, Patriots, and those who remained neutral. The local government supported the Revolution, or "The Cause." Some residents posed as Loyalists but were part of a secret spy network set up by Gen. George Washington. Capt. William Bull III[11] of the Town of Wallkill (which was then a part of Ulster County) served in the Continental Army with Gen. Washington in Spencer's Additional Continental Regiment. His cousin was revealed after the war to be part of Washington's spy ring. His brother Moses Bull raised 20 men from the Town of Wallkill to service with his brother. Capt. Bull was promoted twice for valor on the battlefield, once in the Battle of Monmouth where he was part of Lord Stirling's men who famously saved the day after Gen. Lee's retreat. Capt. Bull wintered at Valley Forge with several men from Orange County. Capt. Bull retired from the Army in 1781 and returned to the Town of Wallkill where he built Brick Castle. Hundreds of men from Orange County served in the local militia and many of them fought in the Battle of Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton. However, many residents remained loyal to King George III, include members of Capt. Bull's family. Many in the county were divided within families. Capt. Bull's uncle Thomas Bull was jailed for years in Goshen and then Fishkill for being a Loyalist. Resident Claudius Smith was a Loyalist marauder whose team robbed and terrorized citizens; he was hanged in Goshen in 1779 for allegedly robbing and killing Major Nathaniel Strong; two of his sons were also executed for similar crimes. Capt. Bull's cousin Peter Bull of Hamptonburgh served in the Orange County regiment and was charged with guarding the roads at night from Smith. The Mathews family of Blooming Grove were active Loyalists; Fletcher Mathews was a sympathizer and sometime associate of Smith,[12] and his brother David Mathews was Mayor of New York City during its British occupation for the entirety of the war.
In 1798, after the American Revolutionary War, the boundaries of Orange County changed. Its southern corner was used to create the new Rockland County, and in exchange, an area to the north of the Moodna Creek was added, which had previously been in Ulster County. This caused a reorganization of the local administration, as the original county seat had been fixed at Orangetown in 1703, but this was now in Rockland County. Duties were subsequently shared between Goshen, which had been the center of government for the northern part of Orange County, and Newburgh, which played a similar role in the area transferred from Ulster County. The county court was established in 1801. It was not until 1970 that Goshen was named as the sole county seat.
Due to a boundary dispute between New York and New Jersey, the boundaries of many of the southern towns of the county were not definitively established until the 19th century.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and (3.2%) are water.[13]
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 which borders both the Hudson and Delaware Rivers, and is also the only county in the state to border both New Jersey (south) and Pennsylvania (west).
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 1664feet above sea level. The lowest is sea level along the Hudson.
At the 2010 United States Census, there were 372,813 people living in the county. The population density was 444sp=usNaNsp=us. The racial makeup of the county was 77.2% White, 10.2% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 2.4% Asian, and 3.1% from two or more races. 18% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.[14] According to the 2000 United States Census, 18.3% were of Italian, 18.1% English, 17.4% Irish, 10.2% German, and 5.0% Polish ancestry. According to the 2009–13 American Community Survey, 76.57% of people spoke only English at home, 13.39% spoke Spanish, 4.03% spoke Yiddish, and 0.83% spoke Italian.[15]
During the 2000 Census, 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 has been among the fastest-growing regions within the New York City metropolitan area.[16]
Per the American Community Survey's 2018 estimates, there were 381,951 residents within Orange County.[17] 63.5% of the county was non-Hispanic white, 12.95 Black or African American, 0.8% Native American, 2.9% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.0% from two or more races, and 21.0% Hispanic or Latino of any race. 24.4% of Orange County's residents spoke another language other than English at home.
There were 126,776 households in 2018 and an average of 2.90 persons per household. The owner-occupied housing rate was 68.0% and the median gross rent of the county was $1,223. The median homeowner cost with a mortgage was $2,280 and $909 without a mortgage.
The median income for a household from 2014 to 2018 was $76,716 and the per capita income was $33,472. 11.5% of the county's inhabitants were below the poverty line in 2018.
| White (NH) | 231,848 | 57.8% | |
| Black or African American (NH) | 41,341 | 10.3% | |
| Native American (NH) | 754 | 0.2% | |
| Asian (NH) | 11,665 | 3% | |
| Pacific Islander (NH) | 104 | 0.02% | |
| Other/Mixed (NH) | 25,854 | 6.44% | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 89,744 | 22.4% |
Originally, like most New York counties, Orange County was governed by a board of supervisors. Its board consisted of the 20 town supervisors, nine city supervisors elected from the nine 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; residents elect the county executive and a 21-member county legislature elected from 21 single-member districts. There are also several state constitutional positions that are elected, 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:
The County Legislature and its previous board of supervisors were long dominated by the Republican Party. However, since the late 20th century, 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. At the November 2009 election, several Democratic incumbents were defeated. As of the convening of the legislature on January 1, 2022, there are 14 Republicans, 6 Democrats, and 1 Independence member.
| + Orange County Executives | Name | Party | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louis V. Mills | Republican | January 1, 1970 – December 31, 1977 | ||
| Louis C. Heimbach | Republican | January 1, 1978 – December 31, 1989 | ||
| Mary M. McPhillips | Democratic | January 1, 1990 – December 31, 1993 | ||
| Joseph G. Rampe | Republican | January 1, 1994 – December 31, 2001 | ||
| Edward A. Diana | Republican | January 1, 2002 – December 31, 2013 | ||
| Steven M. Neuhaus | Republican | January 1, 2014 – present |
| District | Legislator | Party | Residence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Amo | Independence | Central Valley | |
| 2 | Janet Sutherland | Republican | ||
| 3 | Paul Ruszkiewicz | Republican | Pine Island | |
| 4 | Kevindaryán Luján | Democratic | Newburgh | |
| 5 | Katie Bonelli chairwoman | Republican | Blooming Grove | |
| 6 | Genesis Ramos | Democratic | Newburgh | |
| 7 | Peter Tuohy | Republican | ||
| 8 | Barry J. Cheney | Republican | Warwick | |
| 9 | L. Stephen Brescia | Republican | Montgomery | |
| 10 | Glenn R. Ehlers | Republican | Chester | |
| 11 | Kathy Stegenga | Republican | ||
| 12 | Kevin Hines | Republican | Cornwall | |
| 13 | Thomas J. Faggione majority leader | Republican | Deerpark | |
| 14 | Laurie R. Tautel | Democratic | ||
| 15 | Joseph J. Minuta | Republican | ||
| 16 | Leigh J. Benton | Republican | Newburgh | |
| 17 | Mike Anagnostakis | Democratic | Maybrook | |
| 18 | Rob Sassi | Republican | ||
| 19 | Michael D. Paduch minority leader | Democratic | Middletown | |
| 20 | Joel Sierra | Democratic | Middletown | |
| 21 | James D. O'Donnell | Republican | Goshen |
The county is served by Stewart International Airport, located two miles west of Newburgh, New York. The airport serves American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Allegiant Air, and JetBlue Airways. AirTran Airways stopped providing service to the airport in late 2008.
Ground transportation within Orange County is provided primarily by Transit Orange. Leprechaun Lines, Monsey Trails, NJ Transit, Short Line Bus, and Metro-North Railroad's Port Jervis Line also provide services, as well as amenities such as senior citizen & handicapped dial-a-bus and car services, which usually restrict themselves to their respective town or city.[19] [20] Shortline also operates the Main Line of Orange County between Middletown and Monroe Woodbury (Commons), with stops in Walkill & (The Galleria), Goshen, Chester, Monroe & Harriman.
Major routes in Orange County are freeways Interstate 84, Interstate 87, State Route 17 (Future Interstate 86), and the Palisades Interstate Parkway, and surface roads U.S. Route 6, U.S. Route 9W, and U.S. Route 209. There are two Hudson River crossings in Orange County: the Bear Mountain Bridge and the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge.
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In recent years, Orange County has emerged as a swing county, mirroring 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 in all but one presidential election. The only time this tradition was broken was in 1964, during Democrat Lyndon Johnson's 44-state landslide. County voters have shown a 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.[21] 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. Maloney was re-elected in 2020, defeating the 2018 Republican nominee for US Senate Chele Farley. Due to redistricting, Maloney left the 18th District and the seat was left vacant. The Democrats nominated former Ulster County Executive and incumbent Congressman from the 19th Congressional District Pat Ryan, while the Republicans chose then-Assemblyman Colin Schmitt. While Ryan won the district as a whole, Schmitt won Orange County itself by 9,652 votes, or approximately 7.94% [22]
At the state level, Republicans had held onto both State Senate seats until 2018, when John Bonacic retired after 26 years, the 42nd district was then won by Democrat Jen Metzger, for 1 term. In 2020 it returned to the GOP, via Mike Martucci, who chose not to run for re-election in 2022. The 39th State Senate District was held by Democrat James Skoufis from 2016 through 2022, when statewide redistricting moved Skoufis to the newly drawn 42nd district. Skoufis was re-elected to this new district, consisting of most of the county. Newburgh and Maybrook, meanwhile, remained in the new 39th District, held since 2022 by Republican Robert Rolison.
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 Miller, another Republican, was elected to replace her. He held the seat until 2022 when redistricting moved him elsewhere, and he was replaced by fellow Republican Brian Maher. Colin Schmitt represented the 99th district until 2022 when it was redrawn and he left to run for Congress. The district was won by Chris Eachus, a Democrat. The other two districts are also held by Democrats: Aileen Gunther in the 100th district (Middletown) and Jonathan Jacobson in the 104th district (Newburgh).
Delano-Hitch Stadium in Newburgh has played host to various professional and amateur baseball teams from various leagues since opening in 1926. The stadium was home to the North Country Baseball League Newburgh Newts for the 1st and only season, 2015.
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.
The Army Black Knights of the United States Military Academy in West Point field NCAA Division I teams in 24 different sports. 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 Community College Colts in Middletown compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association.
The Orange County Fair Speedway hosts weekly series racing along with the Super DIRTcar Series along with monster trucks and demolition derbies. They also have a Dirt bike track located outside Turns 3 and 4 of the Speedway. Some notable drivers to race at the track include Stewart Friesen, Brett Hearn and Max McLaughlin.
School districts include:[23]
Private 2ndary educational institutions:
Colleges:
Points of interest in Orange County include the United States Military Academy at West Point; OCGC, a Paul Rudolph design; Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville, America's oldest (continuously functioning) winery (as it made legal "sacramental" church wines during Prohibition); the birthplace of William H. Seward in Florida; Museum Village in Monroe, an 18th Century Colonial town; the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame in Goshen; Bull Stone House, a NY Historical designated structure, built in 1722 and still used as a private residence (10 generations) by the Bull family, as well as the William Bull III House, built in the 1780s. The Historical, Art Deco style Paramount Theatre (Middletown, New York), built in 1930. Thrall Library/Middletown station (Erie Railroad), built in 1896, closed in 1983, refurbished (& expanded) into a public library in 1995. The multi-acre, Salesian Seminary, in Goshen, which trained NYC novitiates for the priesthood, was sold to the Village and a $4.5 million state-of-the-art library built on the grounds in 2018.
Three state parks: Goosepond Mountain State Park, Harriman State Park and Sterling Forest State Park. Sugarloaf arts community, which features the Lyceum Center theatre. The Times Herald-Record newspaper, the first cold press offset daily in the country, in MiddletownCommercial centers of interest include the Galleria at Crystal Run, in Wallkill; Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Monroe. The Orange County Fair in Wallkill is an annual 2 or 3 week summer event, dating back to 1808, but officially opening in 1841. Newburgh was the location of Orange County Choppers, 61,000 square foot, $12 million, custom motorcycle-shop facility featured on The Discovery Channel's reality television series American Chopper but it was closed and sold by 2020. The home and birthplace of Velveeta and Liederkranz Cheese in Monroe (village).