Road Trip - Newburgh

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I arrive in Newburgh, New York, this afternoon after a leisurely drive through Pennsylvania. Eastern Pennsylvania fall colors are at their height.

Newburgh doesn't have a whole lot to commend itself except its proximity to the Hudson River. Standing on the town dock facing east, with the setting sun and fall colors, the Newburgh riverfront is quite pretty. But do a 180, and there is historic Newburgh, all boarded brick buildings, failed dreams, and lost manufacturing. As I make my way back to the hotel through downtown Newburgh, I can see neighborhoods of Latin Americans trying to maintain an economic toehold. They appear to be gamely hanging on.

Once George Washington had a home in Newburgh. During the closing months of the Revolutionary War, he ended the Newburgh Conspiracy, created the Purple Heart, and announced the British cease fire. Now Newburgh is just a stop along I-84, decadent, on the west side of the Hudson.

For nearly everyone, nothing more than a name on a sign on the way to New England.
K-

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Marie Author Profile Page said:

Who would have ever thought, that a town like that would end up like this. Something is wrong with this country.

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This page contains a single entry by Kem White published on October 17, 2008 7:50 AM.

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