Alan B. Crawford

Hello! I’m Alan Crawford, recently appointed to the position of historian for the Town of Newburgh. I’m humbled and honored to have this opportunity. From the response on the Town of Newburgh Historian Facebook page, I thought I would begin by providing a brief history of myself, and my family as a number of people have asked.

The Crawford’s came here in the early 1700’s, and settled in various locations. My direct ancestors moved to the Town of Newburgh, in Leptondale, in the late 1700’s an early 1800’s. You can look at different period maps and see my Great Great-Grandfather, Gidney S. Crawford’s farm on North Plank Road (Route 300). This was deeded over to his son, Sands Crawford, and later to Sands’ sons Norman and Woodrow (father). I still reside on a section of this land.

The original farm house burned down in 1884 and was replaced by one which stood approximately where the northbound lane of the New York State Thruway crosses Route 300. Sadly, this home was taken during the construction of the Thruway. This is a photo of how it appeared, circa 1950.

With the loss of the family homestead, my father purchased another house across the road, which was slated for demolition, and moved it onto our adjacent property, which is now 1836 Route 300. Some of the old out buildings and sections of the barn are still standing.

A few years ago, I purchased a 1937 Dodge which I now drive occasionally, and have used in a locally filmed movie. It is similar to one that my father drove. Being the pack rat that I am (no, not a hoarder) I have one of Dad’s work shirts, from the 1950’s from Newburgh Park Motors, where he was employed then, hanging in the auto.

So, enough about me. What about you? I hope to put together Town Meetings for the public, with speakers, genealogist, and other items YOU would like to learn of. We also need to establish a mechanism to preserve our history, including family items which need not be lost. I have a number of things handed down in my family as well. Originally, when I became interested in local history and genealogy in the 1970’s, I interviewed many people, researched local cemeteries, and so on. The one thing which this brings to mind is that those people I met with then, were born in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. I was blessed to be able to spend time with them. They are gone now, but the stories, and sense of community they shared with me, encouraged me to find a venue to capture and save this for future generations.

All the families in the Town have similar stories, photos, and items to share. I encourage you to contact me so we can begin compiling what is available and work together to establish a means to promote our community and proudly exchange these things with one another.

As I have a fair amount of information for Leptondale, I will be sharing this, while I begin to gather ideas and items YOU want to learn of, or share with others. Looking forward to chatting or corresponding with everyone.