NEWBURGH HEIGHTS - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

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 HEIGHTS It was originally part of Newburgh Twp. The name was probably taken from Newburgh, NY. Edwin S. Peck was the village's first mayor (1904-08). The population in 1909 was 400. Newburgh Hts. was settled first by New Englanders, then by IRISH and Welsh immigrants, and subsequently by POLES, CZECHS, and GERMANS who worked in the nearby steel mills and factories of NEWBURGH. In 1917 Newburgh Hts. had a building boom; farms were subdivided into residential lots, taxes rose, and a group of residents seceded and formed the village of Cuyahoga Hts. The new boundaries left the residential area in Newburgh Hts. and the farmland and industrial area in Cuyahoga Hts. In 1930 the population of Newburgh Hts. was 4,152; it was 4,000 in 1940, 3,600 in 1953, 4,000 in 1960, 2,310 in 1990, and 2,389 in 2000. Raus Park in Newburgh Hts. was the setting for many gymnastic exhibitions, concerts, nationality dances, carnivals, and sporting events, including boxing and wrestling shows organized and promoted by local clubs and societies, as well as many patriotic, political, and service organizations. In the early 1990s the community fought in federal court to resolve problems stemming from a local radioactive toxic waste dump.

See also SUBURBS, IMMIGRATION AND MIGRATION, BRITISH IMMIGRATION.

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