Story
Johnston Street
Conceived in 1852, Johnston Street formed part of Newburgh's first housing development, an effort to expand westward. The newly-chartered city completed the street's current length in 1868, as builders rushed to make it attractive to middle and working class buyers. A walk down Johnston Street touches the essence of 19th century Newburgh—a city eager for prosperity and useful architecture.
St. George's Cemetery
A view down South Johnston Street, opened in 1868–69, from the gates of St. George's Cemetery. Gravedigger David Perrott purchased a sizable lot on the new street, sold eventually to his son-in-law, David H. Flansburgh.
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13–15 S. Johnston Street
Architect David H. Flansburgh housed his office in this structure, completed by him early in 1888. As a builder, Flansburgh fabricated his own house parts here, especially for projects in the developing Washington Heights neighborhood. The space found later use as a meeting hall, church, and barbershop.
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138-140 Broadway
Frederick T. Hill was a later owner of this corner grocery store, built just after the Civil War. The building's French-influenced mansard roof at the time of construction signaled the store was tasteful.
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30–31 Johnston Street
These Italianate brick houses were once triplets. They were built by the Wilson Brothers, a firm of builders, in 1888 on lots purchased from the Tartiss family, whose mansion stands at the far right. The house closest to the Tartiss residence has been demolished.
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113–115 Johnston Street
The owner of one of these post-Civil War townhouses captured its ivy-covered face around 1910.
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154 Third Street
A “Mrs. Sarviss” commissioned this corner lot residence in 1899, years after its mansard roof had gone out of vogue. The builders were carpenter Lewis Burnhams and mason H. B. Sloan.
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48 Farrington Street
One contractor in the late 1860s designed several mansard roofed-commercial buildings identical to this corner store. The site still carries out its intended function as Farrington Deli.
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127 Johnston Street
In this enigmatic 1880s house, a builder experimented with the Queen Anne style in atypical environs. Queen Anne was mainly practiced locally in suburban architecture, taking inspiration from withered manor houses and English Baroque. A textured gable overhangs above the rounded bay, sporting a Palladian window.
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131 Johnston Street
Not dissimilar in plan from workers' cottages at 82–100 Johnston Street, this line of Italianate houses appeared in the early 1870s. Saw-cut paneling on the door hoods was considered Swiss in origin.
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159 Johnston Street
Frank Estabrook designed this townhouse in 1892 for James Bayne, an interior decorator. Stained glass beside the entry and a three-part window above the bay are copied from his Thomas H. Skidmore House on Clinton Street built a year earlier.
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169 Johnston Street
Aged professor John W. Doughty acquired this parcel in 1881 to build a final residence for him and his wife Harriet. As a long-time instructor at the Newburgh Free Academy, he brought reform to the school and increased its prestige. He died here in 1905.
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162 Johnston Street
Children of the third ward attended this demolished schoolhouse until the mid-20th century. Prolific Newburgh firm Thomas Shaw & Sons were the builders of the original section in 1866, but more attendance prompted an expansion at the rear. In this photograph, the building is listed for sale.
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179 South Street
Architect George E. Harney designed this inventive church in 1869 for the Church of Our Father, a liberal Unitarian congregation. Warren Delano, grandfather of president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, led the building committee, while sculptor Henry Kirke Brown collaborated with Harney and his craftsmen on interior design. Holy Temple UHCA preserves the sanctuary today, which still contains the Delano family's pew.
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