The History of Orange County

Orange County was established in 1683 as one of the original counties of the Province of New York. The county name is derived from King William III of England who was a Prince of the House of Orange.

The earliest carbon dated human settlement in North America, over 12,500 years old, is found in Orange County. Mastodons roamed the same territory and more of their skeletons can be found here than any place on earth.

Centuries later in 1609 Henry Hudson sailed up our Hudson River and anchored the "Half Moon" in Cornwall Bay.

George Washington established his longest residency during the Revolutionary War in Newburgh. It was here that he founded the Order of the Purple Heart, and in 1850 Washington's Headquarters became the first Registered National Historic Landmark in the United States.

The United States Military Academy at West Point has produced military heroes of great renown such as Eisenhower, Patton, and Schwartzkopf. The oldest military academy in the United States rises imposingly over the Hudson River and is still one of the most popular tourist attractions in the northeast.

Orange is the only New York county located between two rivers, the Hudson on the east, and the Delaware on the west. At one time the Delaware and Hudson Canal connected them. A section of the D&H can still be seen in Cuddebackville along with a museum housing canal artifacts and history.

And Orange County is still making history today. The ecological movement in the United States began here at Storm King Mountain overlooking the Hudson River when environmentalists prevented a utility company from destroying the mountain.

Nearby is Stewart International Airport, an alternate site for landing the space shuttle, since the airport has one of the longest runways in the United States.

Picnic at Washington's Headquarters, hike Storm King Mountain, and tour historic West Point.

Come visit, and make your own history in Orange County.