Newburgh; her institutions, industries and leading citizens, historical, descriptive and biographical, Part 14

Author: Nutt, John J., comp
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Newburgh, N.Y. : Published by Ritchie & Hull
Number of Pages: 354

USA > New York > Orange County > Newburgh > Newburgh; her institutions, industries and leading citizens, historical, descriptive and biographical > Part 14

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NEWBURGH.

was held at the Court House. A. S. Cassedy, Daniel S. Waring, James G. Graham, Rev. J. N. Shaffer and W. W. Gearn spoke in favor of the appropriation. On the morrow 373 taxpayers voted in favor of the appropriation of $30,000 and 153 against.

On the first of July W. L. Smith executed a deed of the property to the City of Newburgh.

Messrs. Vaux and Olmstead, architects and landscape gardeners, formerly pupils of the late Andrew J. Downing, volunteered in con- sideration that the park should be named " Downing Park," to furnish plans for laying out the grounds. The sentiment of the people, as voiced by the press, seeming to concur, the offer was eventually accepted.

Downing Park has a very sightly location, and part of it being on a high eminence, a view of the river, the surrounding country and of a large part of the city is afforded. It has long been a popular resort and playground in Summer.

THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC.

The projectors of the enterprise which secured to Newburgh this large and beautiful edifice and a popular place of amusement were J. P. Andrews and E. S. Turner. In December, 1886, the lot was purchased from Robert Whitehill for $15,000, and the erection was commenced in the Spring of 1887. The building stands on the north- west corner of Broadway and Grand Street. It has a frontage on Broadway of 85 feet, and a depth of 140 feet. The style of architect- ure is Romanesque; the walls of the first story are built of brown stone, and the rest of North River brick, with terra cotta trimmings. The auditorium is eighty feet long by forty-five in depth, and about forty feet high. The stage is eighty by thirty-five feet. There are twelve dressing rooms, two balconies, four boxes, and the auditorium will seat nearly thirteen hundred people. It is heated by steam, and lighted by both electricity and gas. The interior is handsomely finish- ed, and the arrangements and conveniences fulfil the most modern ideas. The first story on the Broadway side is rented for mercantile purposes, the second for offices, and the third and fourth to Masonic societies. Messrs. T. & J. Wilson were the contractors for the mason work; Thomas Shaw's Sons, carpenters; Ward & Logan, painting and frescoing; William Nixon, gas fixtures; Henry McCann, plumb- ing; J. H. Dotzert, electric light fixtures; L. W. Seavey, of New York, scene painter; J. J. Meehan, of New York, stage carpenter. The Academy was formally opened September 17, 1888. The total cost was about $95,000. The stock-holders are J. P. Andrews' estate, Thos. Shaw's Sons, T. & J. Wilson, Ward & Logan, Henry McCann, J. Henry Dotzert, E. A. Brewster, John D. Van Buren, Henry T. McCoun. The first manager was A. Stanley Wood, and the present lessee and manager is Fred M. Taylor.

JOHN P. ANDREWS, to whom Newburgh is mainly indebted for its beautiful Academy of Music, was born at Woodbury, Conn., June 6, 1817. In his youth he learned the mason trade, and the knowl- edge he possessed of this practical art was the basis of the suceess he achieved in after life. He became an expert at his trade, and was entrusted by his employer with the most important work. When comparatively young he undertook contracts on his own account, one of the first, if not the first, being a railroad job for Commodore Van- derbilt.

In the years that followed Mr. Andrews built railroads in many parts of the country, and had a wide acquaintance among the lead- ing railroad operators. As a member of the firm of Dillon, Clide & Co. he built the Grand Central Depot, and the approaches thereto, in- cluding the Fourth Avenue Tunnel, in the City of New York. He built the great Bergen Tunnel for the Erie Railroad, and all the ma- sonry for the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad through Buffalo, the road being elevated in that city. At the time of his death he was engaged on three contracts, namely, the construction of the Dutchess County Railroad, an extension of the Lehigh Valley Rail- road, and an extension of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

Mr. Andrews for several years owned and lived at Home Farm, at Wallkill, N. Y. In 1877 he bought the handsome residence 291

Liberty Street, and moved to Newburgh. He formed a strong at- tachment for the city, and contributed to its advancement in many ways. He erected several fine buildings, and aroused the spirit of en- terprise in other capitalists. He was an officer of the Newburgh Real Estate Company, which developed a valuable tract of land in the city, and was one of the organizers, and at the time of his death the Vice- President of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company.

But his crowning work for Newburgh was in connection with the Academy of Music, for which he furnished most of the capital. At his death he owned three-fourths of the stock and was President of the company.

Mr. Andrews died at his country-seat near Cairo, Greene County, November 26, 1890. The cause of death was apoplexy. In him New- burgh " lost a citizen unportentious in manner, active in public spirit, upright in character, and who demonstrated repeatedly in this city his interest and devotion to the public weal." The people of Newburgh had a warm regard for him, and his memory will be cherished for his identification with the material advancement and progress of our city.

JOHN P. ANDREWS.

Mr. Andrews was twice married. By his first wife, Harriet Bron- son, he had two sous and one daughter, namely, J. B. Andrews, of Denver, Col., Frederick, and Edna H., wife of William C. Chambers. His second wife was Josephine Jerome, who has one daughter, Adelee M., wife of Dr. F. S. Cole.

NEWBURGH FREE ACADEMY.

This institution of learning was completed and dedicated Septem- ber 2, 1886. The architect was F. A. Wright (of Rossiter & Wright, of New York), a graduate of the Academy; the contractor was Thomas Dobbin; Thomas Shaw's Sons sub-contractors for the carpenter work; the superintendent of construction was William Harrison, a member of the Board of Education; the total cost was about $68,000. Work was commenced August 1, 1885. The edifice, which is constructed of brick, with brown stone trimmings, contains three stories and a basement. It stands on Montgomery Street, on the site of the old

NEWBURGH.

Academy, which was erected in 1796. It has a frontage of 112 feet and a depth of 68. There are twelve class rooms, each 3112x23 feet, and each containing single desks for forty-five pupils. There are twenty-one rooms in all, including an assembly hall SS feet in length by 64 in width, which will seat between six and seven hundred persons; janitor's quarters, drawing room, laboratory, etc. The heating and ventilating is by the Rutan system; the light enters all the class rooms over the left shoulders of the pupils; the stairways are broad, easy of ascent and descent, without windings or abrupt turns. In these as in many other particulars, the Academy is patterned after the most modern ideas in school architecture. The interior can be lighted by gas or electricity.

The dedicatory exercises were held in the Assembly Hall on the third floor, and over six hundred people were present, among them Hon. A. S. Draper, State Superintendent of Instruction; Rev. Dr. John Forsyth, of Newburgh; Rev. Dr. Cornwell, Prof. Edward Wells, of Peekskill ; Colonel H. C. Hasbrouck, Commandant of Cadets at

the interior are of pine, with shellac finish. The joiner work is all hand-made, and that in the best manner. The doors are heavy and beautifully paneled. The rooms are handsomely fitted up and cheer- ful. At the dedicatory exercises there were present a number of delegates from other Associations. Addresses were made by Rev. Dr. W. K. Hall, President E. S. Turner, and Rev. G. A. Hall, and a poem entitled "E. S. Turner, His Mark" was read by Rev. John Macnaughtan. The Association owes the building mainly to the in- defatigable efforts of E. S. Turner, who was the President, and J. T. Bowne, who was then Secretary. Mr. Turner subsequently erected a handsome office building adjoining the Y. M. C. A. building, of similar design.

GRAMMAR SCHOOL NO. 6.

On March 18, 1891, the Board of Education awarded to T. & J. Wilson the contract for the construction of a new school building, situated at the corner of Liberty and Renwick Streets. The building

RESIDENCE OF ISAAC COCHRAN-Corner of Powell Avenue and North Street.

West Point; Judge E. L. Eldridge, Superintendent of Schools of Poughkeepsie, N. Y .; Major E. C. Boynton, Homer Ramsdell, Esq., Mayor Odell and ex-Mayor Cassedy, of Newburgh. Dr. Forsyth offered prayer, and addresses were made by President L. M. Smith, Hon. Jas. G. Graham, Hon. A. S. Draper, Hon. O. D. M. Baker, Presi- dent of the Poughkeepsie Board of Education, and Mr. T. C. North- cott, of Elmira.

THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION BUILDING,

Which is located on the corner of Third and Smith Streets, has a frontage of 31 feet and a depth of 77, with three stories and a base- ment. The architects were McKim, Mead & White, of New York; the contractors, William H. Hilton for the carpenter work, and John Little for the mason work. The construction commenced in Septem- ber, 1882, and the building was dedicated with appropriate ceremo- nies June 15, 1883. The general style of the building is colonial. The exterior walls are of selected North River brick laid in red mor- tar, and trimmed with quoins of molded Croton brick and blue stone. The total cost of the building complete and furnished was over $24,- 000. The first floor and basement are used as a gymnasium, in the second story are the parlor and reading rooms, and on the third floor is a hall with a seating capacity of three hundred. The finishings of

is 74 feet in width and 76 in depth. There are eight class rooms, each 28x23 feet, and having desks for forty pupils. A hall, sixteen feet wide, extends through each of the first two stories, with two class rooms on either side. The third story contains the assembly room. The building is heated and ventilated by the Rutan-Smead system. The estimated cost is about $30,000. F. E. Estabrook, of Newburgh. was the architect.

THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING.

In 1891 Congress appropriated $100,000 for the erection of a pub- lic building in Newburgh, and the Government purchased a plot at the southeast corner of Montgomery and Second Streets on which to erect the structure. This plot is 100 feet on Montgomery Street and 125 feet on Second Street.

Other evidences of recent growth are: Three new churches; three newspapers; the enlargement of the water works system; two iron steamboats for the Homer Ramsdell Transportation Company; electric fire alarm system; the proposed addition of two new wards, and the rearrangement of the system of municipal government; mail delivery by carriers; Newburgh made a port of delivery.

THE CITY OF NEWBURGH.

Characteristics and Advantages.

HE year 1891 finds Newburgh a large, bustling, thriving city, equipped with every modern facility and con- venience preferred by an ambitious and cultivated people. By these is determined the civilization of a com- munity more than by anything else, for without them it could not do the complex duties of a highly organized society. Judged by its institutions, Newburgh is a model city. Its educational system, its religious, benevolent and social organizations, its sanitary, water, fire, street aud police ar- rangements would befit a municipality of far larger growth. It has become an important manufacturing and rail- road centre, as well as a delightful residence place and the general market and depot of supply for a broad region of country.

Our streets are mac- adamized or paved, and our flagstone side-walks beneath stately elms and maples, are miles and miles in extent. Water is cheaply supplied by the city. The rate of taxation is lower than in any other place of equal FTUNG WORKS population; the municipal debt is insignificant and merely nominal. The cost of living is low; Bear,++ Water. rents are not high; coal is cheap; meat, flour and the staple household supplies are as reasonable in price here as anywhere else, while milk, butter and vegetables can be had at country prices; clothing, drygoods, fur- niture and carpets are supplied by our large houses at New York prices. No comforts of the great cities are denied to residents of Newburgh, while a thousand and one that may be had here cannot be obtained in New York. The social standard maintains a healthy and moral atmos- phere, which permits a greater degree of liberty, and discourages the rough element to an extent which challenges comparison with any city in the land.

We have a climate nearly perfect, whose hygienic qualities no language can fitly describe; an ideal mountain range to temper the

wind and purify the air, while north and south in beauty ever renewed stretches the valley of the Hudson, fringed in the distance by the softened outlines of the mountains.

" For whereso'er we turn our ravished eyes, Bright gilded peaks and shining prospects rise."

Great cities do not occur by accident. They rise from natural and artificial causes, chief among the former being a dominant geograph- ical position. That must be where extended lines of land and water carriage meet, and where the contributory country is extensive and rich in resources. When these are joined with en- ergetic and capable men the result is as certain as anything may be with- in our range. Now apply- ing this to Newburgh, let us consider the follow- ing :

First-The city is sit- uated almost midway on the great river which separates the Eastern from the Middle States, and on the only water course freighting the products of the great West to New York city and the ocean. It is also located in the centre of one of the best agricul- tural and dairy districts of the United States.

Second-The city is in direct communication with the great coal fields and iron deposits of Pennsylvania, whereby these products are trans- ferred to the water's edge in the city without break- ing bulk. and thence by floats or boats the same cars are transferred to rails which penetrate every part of New Eng- land, while coal-carrying vessels receive and transport coal to any accessible port on the coast.

WATER STREET-LOOKING SOUTH FROM FIFTH STREET.

Third-The city is situated in the very heart of one of the largest fruit-growing districts in this country, the cultivation of which is annually increasing and furnishing employment to thousands of men, women and children.

Fourth-The city bears on its three sides, within easy distances, the first or second great Hudson River brick-making industry. [71]

NEWBURGH.

Fifth-The city is favored with a railroad and steamboat system which leaves nothing to be desired. The resources for cheap trans- portation are, therefore, all at hand here.

Sixth-The cheapness with which coal can be laid down here in quantities, added to the water power which is running to waste, answers the question as to the cheap power for manufacturing.

Water transportation is the key to commerce, and when joined with railways completes the situation. Cheap coal, competing freight rates, good sites, low taxation, and water power are the keys to manufac- tnring. Reviewing all these conditions, one risks nothing in predict- ing that Newburgh will become a great manufacturing and com- mercial city.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

The appearance of the city proper is not only inviting, but visitors are impressed with its compactness, with the regularity and neatness of the avenues, and the solid and substantial appearance of the build- ings. It is singularly tree from dingy streets and squalid tenements. It is laid out generally in regular squares. The site being mainly on the slope of the river bank, there is good drainage, and every rain washes the streets clean. The surface water is collected in silt basins where required, and conducted in sewers to the river. The streets also carry pipes for water, gas and electric wires.

Water, Colden and Front Streets, running parallel and close to the river, and Broadway, extending westward from the river, are the principal business streets. Grand Street, which has eight churches and three public buildings, is on the edge of the first plateau, and at Dubois Street begins the broad tableland on which the west end of the city is built.

The streets are lighted by both gas and electricity-383 gas lamps and I10 electric lamps. The total cost of lighting the streets last year was $24,180.04. Within the fire limits the erection of frame buildings is prohibited.

The streets are in charge of a superintendent, who has a corps of corporation workers, who clean and macadamize the roads, collect garbage and make all ordinary repairs. During the past fiscal year the amount expended under the supervision of the street superinten- dent was $10,058.96.

For two miles the river-front is fringed with almost an unbroken line of wharves. Newburgh is a port of delivery, with a resident customs officer. Ocean vessels are constantly at the docks among the river steamers. At the extreme sonth end of the river front we have the group of New Windsor brick yards. At the month of Quas- saick Creek are the iron works of the Coldwell-Wilcox Co., and the great depot of the Pennsylvania Coal Company, where coal is shipped to points along the coast, the river and the canals. Coming north we pass the West Shore Railroad switchyard, Marvel & Co.'s iron, ship building and engineering works, one of the two Erie Railway switchyards and the New York and New England Railroad ferry; next, the landing places of the regular lines of boats, and far- ther north, the Beveridge Brewery, the paint works, plaster works, cotton mills and Wright's engine works. Interspersed along the line are large storehonses, foundry and machine shops, coal and lumber yards.

The streets next the river are Front and South Water. The former extends from the Union Depot to South Street, and gives access to the steamboat landings. It has wholesale houses, manufactories, etc. South Water Street extends through the South End manufacturing district. Water Street, next west of Front, is the principal retail thoroughfare, though Colden Street and Broadway have recently given it a strong opposition.

It is predicted by some that Broadway will eventually become our principal business street. Handsome buildings are almost constantly under construction, and solidly-built blocks now extend from Colden Street far over the hill. It has factories, stores of all kinds, churches, missions, clubs and places of amusement, and day and night the sidewalks are thronged with people.

The Quassaick Creek, which is the southern boundary, furnishes excellent water power, and has a dozen factories on its banks, with room for many more. Newburgh has two public parks: Downing

Park is the height of land seen in the west, and Washington's Head- quarters park may be distingnished by the flag always flying from its giant staff. To those who pass on the river, or along the opposite shore, we would say that it is only about one-third of the town which they see, and that the hills are not so steep as they appear to them.

CITY GOVERNMENT.

The growth of Newburgh has been encouraged since its incorpor- ation as a city by wise government. In the administration of its affairs there has been nothing to regret-nothing which we would wish to nndo. The Government has always been forehanded in its policy. Its system of public works is complete, and need only be extended from time to time as the growth of the population demands. The laws and ordinances provide for every detail of government. No extraor- dinary expenditures can now be foreseen, and the rate of taxation, small as it is, will more probably be reduced than increased in the future.

YEARLY TAX LEVIES.

The City's Assessed Valuation, and the Amount of Taxes Required for Different Purposes Since Incorporation.

Fiscal Year |

ending Mar.

ASSESSED

CITY TAX

WATER

STATE AND COUNTY

TOTAL

VALUATION.

LEVY.

RENTS.

TAX.

TAXES.

1867

$8,032,667 00

$67,376 72

$14,796 05

SIIO,998 44

$193, 17I 21

1868

7,873,049 54

77,966 00

20,086 79

117,414 69

215,467 48

IS69

7,569,415 00

63,489 50

17,754 64

111,960 43

193,204 57

1870

7,004,929 50

81,770 27

19,566 73

100,173 57

201,510 57

1871

6,056,995 00

79,849 97

19,679 63

111,586 07

211,115 67

1872

6,093,305 00

96,684 98

20,667 60

92,027 81

209,380 39

IS73

6,118,700 00

104,477 95

23,572 68

79,493 OI

207,543 64

1874

5,723,850 00

99,233 28

27,258 17

85,006 49

211,497 94

1875

5,628,735 00

102,925 49

29,307 71

90,519 17

222,752 37

1876

5,617,060 00

104,999 32

28,295 02

72,804 50

206,098 84

1877

11,821,025 00

103,658 II

29,882 0I

58,001 82

191,591 94

1879

9,273,035 00

99,358 48

28,559 75

56,721 76

184,639 99

1880

9,122,010 00

80,562 37

30,696 29

53,745 OI

165,003 67

1881

8,591,859 00

90,475 64

27,334 50

52,333 17

170,143 31

1882

8,678,168 00

97,629 57

27,429 II

46,421 47

171,480 15

1883

8,716,043 92

100,236 38

30,427 37

45,175 46

175,839 21

1884

8,971,729 05

103,297 02

30,882 78

65,891 78

200,07I 58

I885

8,981,845 36

III,374 88

29,944 16

61,614 82

202,933 86

1886

9,058,203 50

112,513 79

30,882 00

61,336 49

204,732 28

1887

9,130,399 00

113,217 07

34,384 00

62,732 96

210,334 03

1888

9,208,604 00

131,227 50

32,885 00

64,346 56

228,459 06

1889

9,330,819 00

145,560 93

36,054 50

61,706 58

243,322 OI

1890

9,328,170 00

145,519 42

37,056 50

79,270 80

261,846 72

1891

9,203,785 00

138,057 14

38,594 09

69,242 25

1 245,893 48

There are outstanding bonds against the city as follows :

Water bonds.

$ 286,000 00

Glebe fund bond (issued 1885) @ 3 per cent

25,170 00

City Park bonds (issued 1887) @ 31/2 per cent .. 12,000 00

Quassaick Creek Bridge bonds (including New Wind-

sor's share, issued 1881) @ 4 per cent ..... 56,000 00

Electric fire alarm bonds (issued 1889) @ 312 per

cent.

3,600 00

$382,770 00

The Water bonds, i. e., the debt on the water works, are provid- ed for by the annnal water rents.

The total amount of taxes levied and raised upon the taxable property of the city during the past year was as follows:

School and Contingent, Police and Light, (City taxes) $138,057 14 State and County taxes .. . . 69,242 25

Water rents, levied by Board of Water Commis-

sioners .. . 38,594 09

$245,893 48

1878

11,470,775 00

98,068 25

29.767 33

60,844 16

188,679 74

NEWBURGH.

The valuation placed on city property (real and personal), for assessment purposes last year was only $9,203,785. The rate for City taxes was $1.50 on every $100. The rate for State and County taxes was 0.7554. The water ta.r may be estimated at about 42 cents on every $100. Thus it will be seen that the total taxes levied upon city property aggregates about $2.67 on every $100 of assessed valu- ation. A careful comparison has been made in Newburgh between the assessed valuation and the real valuation, and the result shows that real estate as a whole is assessed for only one-third its true value. Therefore, the tax rate of $2.67 represents three times what it would be if property were assessed at its true value, or about 89 cents on each $100.

DISBURSEMENTS.

The disbursements ending March 9, 1891, were as follows:

Incidentals.

$ 5,455 01

Board of Health.

762 99

Election Expenses.

1,012 27

Fire Department.

4,479 89

Printing Expenses.

1,553 44

Roads and Bridges.

22,675 59

Salaries

6,875 00

-$ 42,814 19

$ 214,708 02

PLAN OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT. List of the Officials Required, What They are Paid, Etc.

NUMBER AND TITLE.

HOW APPOINTED OR ELECTED.

TERM OF OFFICE.

SALARY.

One Mayor

Elected by City at large

Two years

$800 per year.

One President of Common Council.

Common Council

One year.

Nothing.

One Recorder

City at large

Four years

$1,000 per year.

One Treasurer

Three years

$500 per year.

One Collector

Three years

Paid bv fees. (a)

Four Assessors.

Three years

$300 each per year.

Two Justices of the Peace (one every 2 years) .

Four years

Paid by fees. (c)

One year

do do

(d)

Four Commissioners of the Alms House ....

Three years

Nothing.

do do

Four years

Alderman-at-Large

by City at large. .

Two years

one each year by each Ward.

One year.

About $60 per year.

One Chief Engineer of the Fire Department ...

by active members of fire companies.

Three years

$300 per year.

Three Assistant Engineers do

Nothing.

Four Fire Wardens ...

$2 per day.t

One Vice-President of the Board of Education.

$1,500 per year.

$1,200 per year.

Two Assistant Librarians

$400 each per year.

One Assistant Clerk. .

$Soo per year.

One Superintendent of Streets

do by Mayor-consent of Common Council.

One year do

Fixed by Com. C'l.

Dur'g good behav'r

$1,200 per year.

$950 each per year.

$900 do

One year

Nothing.#

One Corporation Counsel

$200 per year.§

Board of Health (six persons)

Nothing.

One Health Officer

do by Board of Health

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Newburgh; her institutions, industries and leading citizens, historical, descriptive and biographical, Part 14

Author: Nutt, John J., comp Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Newburgh, N.Y. : Published by Ritchie & Hull Number of Pages: 354

Author: Nutt, John J., comp
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Newburgh, N.Y. : Published by Ritchie & Hull
Number of Pages: 354