Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands launches April programs

The Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands is turning its Crawford House headquarters into a spring gathering place, mixing hands-on archive work, a new exhibit and a seasonal opening that ties Newburgh’s past directly to what residents can use now.

At the center of the April lineup is an archive workshop led by calligrapher Marjorie Politi, titled 19th Century Text. The program fits the society’s broader push to make preservation feel active rather than distant, giving visitors a chance to engage with historic material in the same building that houses the organization’s collections and research space at 189 Montgomery Street in Newburgh.

The society will mark its seasonal Opening Day on Sunday, April 26, from 1 to 4 p.m., when the 2026 exhibit opening is also scheduled. This year’s exhibit focuses on Newburgh painter Thomas B. Pope, adding a local art history layer to a day built around the city’s civic memory. The society says the event will include a tour of the 1830 residence of David and Fanny Crawford, the house that serves as the society’s headquarters and gives the programs their setting.

Founded in 1884, the Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands describes itself as a private not-for-profit organization chartered by New York State and registered as a 501(c)(3) charity. Its mission includes preserving and sharing the history, architecture and culture of Newburgh and the surrounding area, a remit that matters in a city where older buildings, family papers and neighborhood stories often carry the clearest record of how the community developed.

The Crawford House itself is part of the appeal. Historical listings describe it as an 1834 neoclassical residence built for David Crawford, while the society identifies it as an 1830 home tied to David and Fanny Crawford. The house is interpreted not only as the home of a wealthy 19th-century family, but as a window into Newburgh and the broader Hudson Valley. It is open to the public on Sundays from April through December, typically from 1 to 4 p.m., with a suggested $5 donation.

For residents who want to go beyond a one-day visit, the archive is open to researchers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2 to 6 p.m. That schedule turns the society from a museum stop into a working local resource, one that keeps Newburgh’s documents, buildings and artists present in the city’s daily life rather than locked in nostalgia.