Newburgh was rechartered as a town in 1788. At that time, it was a part of Ulster County. In 1798, the town of Newburgh and several other towns in southern Ulster County were transferred to Orange County, to compensate for the southernmost part of Orange County being cut away to form Rockland County. The town of Newburgh has remained a part of Orange County ever since. The village of Newburgh was incorporated in 1800. Then as now, villages in New York State remained a part of their parent towns. However, when the village was re-chartered as the city of Newburgh in 1865, it became totally independent of the town.