In April 1782, Gen. George Washington rode into Newburgh and found a
sprawling town. At the end of what is now Liberty Street was the
fieldstone house of the late Col. Jonathan Hasbrouck. From April 1782 to
August 1783, Hasbrouck's house became Washington's home and his
longest-occupied military headquarters. At the end of the American
Revolution, Washington left headquarters, as it came to be known, and
the Hasbrouck family reclaimed the house. A period of extended decline
followed, until the Hasbrouck family could no longer maintain the
property, and it was ultimately purchased by the State of New York. On
July 4, 1850, Washington's Headquarters was named a state historic site
and became the first of its kind in the nation.