Middletown

Middletown: First Congregational Church

Middletown, city, Orange county, southeastern New York, U.S., 60 miles (97 km) northwest of New York City. Settled in 1756, it was organized around the local Congregational church in 1785 and named for its midway location between the Hudson and Delaware rivers. Until 1798 it was in Ulster county. It became headquarters for several turnpike companies and, after 1843, the terminal of the Erie Railroad (later Erie Lackawanna Railway, now part of the Consolidated Rail Corporation). Located in a dairy and fruit-growing region, it serves as a gateway to a mountain and lake resort area and has light industries, including the manufacture of clothing, flavoring extracts, and machinery. Middletown is the home of the Orange County Community College (1950), part of the State University of New York system. Inc. village, 1848; city, 1888. Pop. (2000) 25,388; Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown Metro Area, 621,517; (2010) 28,086; Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown Metro Area, 670,301.