Statue of George Clinton

On October 6, 1896, the statue of native son George Clinton was dedicated during a ceremony that the “whole city turned out to witness.” In the photograph above, taken by a photographer standing on a Water Street rooftop, citizens gather to see the unveiling of a statue they were proud to have purchased for the center of their city. Newspaper accounts claimed that over 10,000 people crowded the triangular intersection known as Colden Square. By invitation, special guests and speakers sat on a platform behind the statue. Shortly after, this intersection would be known as Clinton Square.

George Clinton was born on a farm in Little Britain in 1739 and would grow to become a significant figure as an American Revolutionary War general, the first governor of New York State, and Vice President of the United States under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

The statue that posthumously honors Clinton was sculpted by the famous Newburgh artist, Henry Kirke Brown, and cast by his nephew, Henry K. Bush-Brown. The statue was moved from its original location during the urban renewal projects in the 1970s. It now sits in a Colonial Terraces park at the corner of Fullerton Avenue and Third Street in Newburgh..