[2] Estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau during 2018 show the Newburgh township's population exceeded 30,000.

[4][5][6] Previously, the highways were accessible to each other via a short stretch of New York State Route 300 (a major north–south thoroughfare and a main commercial corridor in the town) but a direct connection between I-84 and the Thruway was completed in December 2009, after being under construction for five years.

[7][8][9] Newburgh was originally settled in 1709 by German Palatine refugees under the name of "Neuburg", who were soon supplemented by a significant number of Scottish immigrants.

It is believed one of the largest was Brookside Dairy Farm, just west of the city of Newburgh on the north side of the old Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike (now Route 17K).

It was known in its day for its state of the art facilities which produced dairy products in an innovative and scientific way.

[13] The PepsiCo bottling plant and corporate offices are now located on the site of Tarr Oval.

In a different part of town, the Gidney family operated a grist mill on Gidneytown Creek.

The old gunpowder mills in what is now Algonquin Park today serve as the focal point of the only historic district in the town.

However, after World War II the population skyrocketed as more and more farmland and forestland was converted to housing developments.

Many of the new residents of the town in the 1940s and 1950s were World War II veterans who were able to purchase their own homes under the provisions of the G.I.

Also, the booming economy after World War II allowed many families to afford to purchase automobiles, which made residency in the suburbs away from central city cores practical for the first time.

This post-World War II housing explosion pretty well petered out by the time of the energy crisis and recession in the early to mid-1970s.

This lull in new housing was also a result of the departure of many major employers who left the city of Newburgh and other surrounding communities to relocate in southern states, where the cost of labor was much cheaper.

This exodus of local employment climaxed with the closing of Stewart Air Force Base—by far the region's largest employer—in 1970.

There are several housing developments—Wedgewood Park being perhaps the most prominent example—which received subdevelopment and building approval in the 1960s but were not actually built until many years later.

[15] Since 2000, homes in virtually every part of the town are being built on lots which twenty years ago were considered unsuitable for this purpose.

The town became less and less a residential suburb for local employees and more and more a "bedroom" community for commuters to jobs outside the region.

The towns of Monroe and Warwick, located in the southern part of Orange County in the path of commuter routes, both greatly exceeded the town of Newburgh in 2010, despite both being rural farm communities of less than 10,000 each fifty years earlier.

Straddling the border with the town of Shawangunk, it is dominated by a large Christian cross, lit at night, erected and maintained at the summit by the private property owner.

Most of Cronomer Hill is now a park owned and maintained by Orange County and remains heavily forested.

The summit, accessible by auto via a road intersecting with Route 32, features an observation tower from which can be seen views of major portions of the mid Hudson Valley, including the Newburgh Beacon Bridge in its entirely, much of Dutchess County across the Hudson, and major portions of Stewart Airport to the southwest, as well as much of the city of Newburgh and town of New Windsor.

Another prominent elevation in the town is Prospect Hill, behind Fostertown School, about 710 feet (220 m) above sea level.

The two Rossville hills flank either side of New York Route 32 just south of the town border, near the intersection with East Road.

Although each is less than 400 feet (120 m) above sea level, their close proximity to the Hudson River renders them picturesque.

In the post-World War II era, with the first explosion in population in the town (as the town began the transition from rural to suburban) as well as with "Baby boomers" beginning their schooling, the need came about for larger and more modern school buildings.

During the 1950s, new elementary schools were built in Balmville, Gardnertown, East Coldenham, Leptondale and Union Grove.

Fostertown School retained its older building, but the first of several modern additions was constructed in 1957.

When the current police headquarters was built in the late 1980s, adjacent but in the other direction, facing Gardnertown Road, this building became a secondary town hall, housing the code compliance, building, zoning, and planning board offices.

In Newburgh, the board consists of four councilpersons, and a town supervisor who presides and exercises limited executive authority.

Short Line, part of Coach USA, also provides daily service along U.S. Route 9W heading to and from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan and West Point Military Academy.