Algonquin Park / 914-562-8413
Powder Mill Rd. & Rte 52, Newburgh, Orange County, NY
42 acres of history and natural beauty

Directions:

US 87; US 84 east; exit 8; left onto Route 52 n; right onto Power Mill Road.

History:

1800's site of the only black powder manufacturing facility in Orange County; many stone structures remaining.

History plaques by Scott J. Dabroski, Troop 27, B.S.A.

Here stood the Round House used by the Orange Mills Company in the 1800s. It was used to store the saltpeter and sulfur before it was distributed from mill to mill. The charcoal was also stored here. The Round House was located across the street from the main building on the mill property and is connected to the underground water passage. This water passage was used to move the products from mill to mill.

Here stood the charge house used by the Orange Mills Company. The Charge House was powered from the water flowing through all three ponds. It used this power to run the machines and belts used to carry, compress and crush the saltpeter and sulfur.

Here stood the Press Building, 1851-1901. The wheel cakes were taken to the press building where it was compressed to insure the ingredients did not separate while being transported or processed. The Two inch wheel cake was placed on a copper plate, two feet square and then wrapped in canvas. Acting like a cider press, the press made the wheel cake into a slate-like slab, one inch thick.

1916 -- Mrs. Annie Delano Hitch donated land to the City for a "Driving Park"; later known as Delano-Hitch Recreation Park.  The City of Newburgh Lions Club signed its charter to become formal service club on December 18, 1923. Anne Delano Hitch was the first woman to be a member of Lions International in 1924. We owe Delano-Hitch Park to her insight and philanthropy. We also owe Algonquin Park in the township to Lion member Frederic Delano Hitch. (Source: http://www.newburgh-ny.com/historian/lions_club.htm)

The "Driving Park was known as Recreation Park. Thnere was ample room for roadsters to drive their car around and then picnic in the fields.  In 1911 the area was the site of the first "lighter than air craft" landing by aviationist Lincoln Beachey.  In 1931 a swimming pool was constructed. (And restored in 2000.)  (Source:  Kevin Barrett. 2000. Images of America: Newburgh. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Press.)

Frederic Delano Hitch was born in 1833 in Fairhaven, Massachusetts.  In 1860 he went to China and entered the service of Russell and Company, leading merchants and bankers.  In 1877 he married Annie Lyman Delano (1849-1926), whose parents were Warren and Catherine Delano of "Algonac," New York.  He remained in China until 1884 when he retired.  He took up residence in "Algonac," Newburgh, New York.  He and his wife were aunt and uncle of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  They were actively involved in various phases of social work in the area.  He died in 1911.  (http://darcisplace.com/darci/hitch-frederick.htm)

Habitats:

Three ponds, a stream, small woods, lawns.

Facilities:

Baseball fields; picnic areas and a children's playground.  Around the ponds they have a real problem with way too many Canada geese.  They have a sign saying not to feed the ducks, but when we were there, people were feeding the geese. 

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = 7/27/03 date plant found in bloom

Trees:
Acer campestre (field maple)
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven)
Carya cordiformis (bitternut hickory)
Carya glabra (pignut hickory)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Catalpa sp. (Catalpa)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Fraxinus pensylvanica (green ash)?
Juglans nigra (black walnut)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Populus grandidentata (big toothed aspen)
Prunus sp. (kwanzan cherry)?
Pyrus calleryana (callery pear)
Pyrus sp. (crab apple)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Rhamnus cathartica (common buckthorn)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Tilia americana (American basswood)
Ulmus americana (American elm)
Ulmus rubra (slippery elm)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Cephalanthus occidentalis (buttonbush) *
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Philadelphus sp. (mock orange)
Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry)
Staphylea trifolia (bladdernut)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple leaf viburnum)

Vines:
Calystegia sepium (hedge bindweed)
Cuscuta sp. (dodder)
Menispermum canadense (moonseed)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet nightshade) *
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis labrusca (fox grape)

Herbs:
Acalypha sp. (three-seeded mercury)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) *
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)
Arctium lappa (greater burdock) *
Arctium minus (lesser burdock)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster) *
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle) *
Callitriche sp. (water starwort)
Centaurea jacea (brown knapweed) *
Chelidonium majus (celandine) *
Chenopodium album (pigweed)
Cichorium intybus (chicory) *
Cirsium vulgare (bull thistle)
Coronilla varia (crown vetch) *
Cryptotaenia canadensis (honewort)
Desmodium glutinosum (pointed-leaved tick trefoil) *
Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink) *
Duchesnea indica (Indian strawberry) *
Erigeron annuus (common daisy fleabane) *
Eupatorium rugosum (white snakeroot)
Euphorbia maculata (spotted spurge)
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium)
Geum canadense (white avens)
Glechoma hederacea (gill over the ground)
Helianthus divaricatus (woodland sunflower) *
Hemerocallis fulva (tawny day lily)
Hypericum punctatum (spotted St. Johnswort) *
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed) *
Lactuca canadensis (wild lettuce)
Laportea canadensis (wood nettle) *
Lepidium virginicum (poor man's pepper) *
Lobelia inflata (Indian tobacco) *
Lobelia sp. (lobelia) *
Lotus corniculatus (birdfoot trefoil) *
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife) *
Malva neglecta (common mallow) *
Matricaria matricarioides (pineappleweed) *
Medicago lupulina (black medick) *
Nepeta cataria (catnip) *
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel) *
Peltandra virginiana (arrow arum)
Phryma leptostachya (lopseed) *
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed) *
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain) *
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) *
Polygonum sp. (smartweed)
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Portulaca oleracea (common purslane)
Potentilla argentea (silvery cinquefoil) *
Prunella vulgaris (self-heal) *
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Sagittaria latifolia (broad-leaved arrowhead)
Smilacina racemosa (false Solomon's seal)
Solanum nigra (black nightshade) *
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Thalictrum pubescens (tall meadowrue)
Trapa natans (water chestnut) out of control in the ponds
Trifolium repens (white clover) *
Urtica dioica v. procera (tall stinging nettle)
Veronica serpyllifolia (thyme-leaved speedwell) *
Veronica officinalis (common speedwell)
Viola sp. (violet)

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Grasses:
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue panic grass)
Phalaris arundinacea (canary reed grass)

Ferns:
Equisetum arvense (field horsetail)
Asplenium platyneuron (ebony spleenwort)
Cystopteris fragilis var. mackayi (brittle fragile fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Polypodium sp. (rock cap fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)