NEWBURGH HEIGHTS, organized and incorporated as a village in 1904, is a .5 sq. mi. residential community south of Cleveland between the industrial valley of the CUYAHOGA RIVER and the village of CUYAHOGA HTS. It was originally part of NEWBURGH TWP., one of 18 Cleveland-area townships platted by the Connecticut Land Company following its 1796 acquisition of the Western Reserve from the state of Connecticut. The name was probably taken from Newburgh, NY.
Newburgh Township was settled first by New Englanders, then by IRISH and Welsh (see: BRITISH IMMIGRATION) immigrants, and subsequently by POLES, CZECHS, and GERMANS who worked in the nearby steel mills and factories. As early as 1823, sections of the township were periodically annexed to Cleveland, as well as to East Cleveland and Independence townships. The remaining portions of Newburgh Township were incorporated as the Village of Newburgh in 1874. Cleveland annexed additional parts of the village in 1878, 1893, and 1894. In 1904, what remained became the Village of Newburgh Heights, with Edwin S. Peck as mayor (1904-1908). The village's size was further reduced with the 1904 organization of the township of South Newburgh (which became GARFIELD HTS. in 1930) and the township of Corlett (now a part of Cleveland just northeast of CLEVELAND METROPARKS' Garfield Reservation) in 1906.
In 1909 Newburgh Heights' population was only 400. Beginning in 1917, however, the village experienced a building boom: farms were subdivided into residential lots, taxes rose, and a group of residents seceded to form the village of Cuyahoga Hts. The new boundaries left Newburgh Hts. largely residential, with most farmland and industrial areas in Cuyahoga Hts. Newburgh Village’s centerpiece, Raus Park (now Washington Park on the village’s eastern edge) opened in 1920 and became the setting for gymnastics exhibitions, concerts, nationality dances, carnivals, sports, and patriotic/political events. By 1930 the population of Newburgh Hts. reached 4,152 and remained largely stable for several decades (4,000 in 1940, 3,600 in 1953, and 4,000 in 1960). Residential numbers then began to recede, with 2,310 in 1990, 2,389 in 2000, and 1,831 in 2021. Newburgh Village’s public education venues are under the aegis of neighboring Cuyahoga Hts. Only Washington Park Community School—a charter school serving K-8—resides within Newburgh Hts.’ border.
Chris Roy
Last updated: 2/7/2023