Dead Air Valley: "The General Came Back"

A bronze statue of George Washington at Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site in Newburgh was taken down in March 2020 for a scabbard repair that was finished by May 2020. It did not come back for more than six years. Silas Van Wyck tells the story of the long absence: the 1887 statue modeled from Washington's life mask, its earlier departures from the Tower of Victory, the multi-year rebuilding of the site around its empty pedestal, the Newburgh artist across the street who joked that the president had gone out for a cleaning, and the quiet return in late September 2026. The repair took two months. The return took a rebuilt site. Sources: Hudson Valley Country, October 14, 2026, updated October 15, 2026 with responses from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.