Located in the Hudson Valley about 90 miles north of New York City, Newburgh Free Academy today is home to over 2700 students in grades 10 - 12. Our school traces its history back to that of the beginning of our nation. It was in 1790 that the Reverend George H. Spierin proposed to open an "Academy" in Newburgh. Work began on the first Academy in 1796 under the direction of the trustees of the Glebe. (A Glebe was land originally set aside in the early 1700s for a pastor and his church. The Glebe for the Newburgh area was issued in 1719.) A portion of the first Academy was occupied in 1797. The building shown below was 60 feet by 40 feet, two stories high, built of wood, and lined with brick. It was located on Liberty Street and cost around $2,500. The building was not finished until some years later when a court room was included. The building itself saw use as not only a school and court, but was also site for town meetings and political organizations.

Compulsory education laws such as those of 1894, and increasing population in our city resulted in an enlarged high school enrollment. The need for a larger and more modern building was becoming increasingly evident as our school and country entered the 20th century. In 1926 construction began on a seven acre lot at the corner of Fullerton Avenue and South Street for a million dollar building, which was to accomodate 1,500 students. (Note: All three Academy buildings were built within the original Glebe boundaries.) On January 23, 1928 the first classes were held in the present Newburgh Free Academy building, but it was not until March 1928 that the construction work was finally completed. In the fall of 1931 the annex was added to the building, adding dressing rooms, a music room, and an additional place for gym work.

In the first ten years of its occupancy pupil enrollment grew from about 1,100 to more than 2,200. The teaching staff increased from 39 to more than 75. To relieve the overcrowding Columbia University Teachers College recommended that two new junior high schools should be built in order to keep Newburgh up with the times. In spite of the Great Depression, two schools, North Junior High School which still stands and operates on Route 9W and South Junior High School which also still stands and operates on Monument Street, were built with the aid of a 45% grant from the Public Works Administration. In 1937 both buildings were dedicated, and the Academy began to see its enrollment drop back to around 1,500 pupils.

By 1960 building capacity at the Fullerton Avenue location once again was exceeded and in 1964 the North Wing was constructed. The wing includes a lecture room and planetarium.