Orange County marks 250th anniversary with Revolutionary War showcase in Woodbury

Orange County’s semiquincentennial showcase will put nearly 17 historical societies and town historians under one roof on Sunday, April 26, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Town of Woodbury Senior Center in Highland Mills, where residents will be able to see Revolutionary-era people, places and artifacts tied directly to the county’s own past.

The event, called Orange County’s 250th: Individuals and Artifacts of the Revolution, is designed as a countywide gathering rather than a single-town celebration. Participating groups are expected from Blooming Grove, Chester, Deerpark, Goshen, Greenwood Lake, Harriman, Highlands, Monroe, Mount Hope, New Windsor, Tuxedo, Walden/Montgomery, Warwick and Woodbury, along with the Orange County Archaeological Chapter and the Orange County Genealogical Society. That lineup gives the showcase unusual reach for a local-history event and puts Orange County’s smaller historical organizations in the same room with some of the county’s best-known places and names.

Alex Prizgintas, president of the Woodbury Historical Society and town historian for Woodbury and Tuxedo, helped organize the coalition. He said the effort grew from a desire to share stories and artifacts with a broader audience and became a way for people to travel across the county and learn from one another. The format matters: instead of a ceremonial lecture or a formal anniversary program, the event will let visitors move table to table through objects, documents and local accounts that connect Orange County families to the Revolutionary era.

The county has been building that framework for months. County Executive Steve Neuhaus announced the Orange County 250 Field Guide on February 3, 2026, as the United States prepares to mark 250 years since the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026. County materials say the local commemorative timeline begins with the Orangetown Resolutions in 2024 and continues through the 2033 anniversary of the British evacuation of New York State. The guide includes a historical timeline, yearly themes and highlights of Orange County’s Revolutionary-era contributions.

Orange County officials say the county played a central role in the war as a hub for logistics, defense, diplomacy and battle. They point to Ramapo Pass, the Hudson River fortifications around West Point, and settlements along the Delaware River as key stages in that history, along with Fort Montgomery, Benedict Arnold’s treason and the Newburgh Conspiracy. Planning has also included stakeholder meetings at the historic 1841 Courthouse in Goshen, where officials and local historians are coordinating events, cross-promotions and educational programming.

The April 26 showcase builds on earlier countywide history-sharing efforts. Two years ago, ten historical societies and town historians presented Fifty Items of Orange County, followed by Fifty People who Shaped Orange County, both aimed at surfacing hidden and neglected stories. This latest event widens that model and gives Orange County families a concrete way to see how the county’s Revolutionary past is being organized, interpreted and passed forward in the semiquincentennial year.