Owego dates to 1786, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 93% of U.S. towns · #187 of 758 in New York. What drives it
9 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 368 buildings between them. Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1820.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1800.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Owego’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Owego is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #187 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Owego’s overall grade.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Owego’s 202 sits above most of its state (82% of New York towns have fewer) while its 378 historic buildings outnumber those of 96% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.1 points). Two sources give 1786.
Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Owego’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Owego’s post office has been open since 1800. 10 other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Owego
1800–today
East Owego
1827–1836
Flemingsville
1828–1905
Apalachin
1833–today
Campville
1836–1922
South Owego
1840–1913
Gibson's Corners
1848–1849
Gaskill's Corners
1867–1893
South Apalachin
1872–1954
Gaskill
1893–1904
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ApalachinCampvilleCrest View HeightsFlemingvilleFosterGaskillGibson CornersHullsvillePost Trailer ParkPrice HomeSouth ApalachinSouth OwegoStephens Mobile Home CommunityStephens Trailer ParkTioga TerraceValley Mobile Home ParkWhittemore
Gone or out of use
Spencer - Kozanosky Pitmine
14cemeteries and burying grounds inside Owego
BroadwayCampvilleEvergreenFirst Presbyterian Union ChurchFlemingvilleGibson CornersHiawathaRiversideRural OwegoSaint JosephsSearlestownSouth OwegoTracyWaits
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
People over time
Owego, census by census
Lost a third of its people between 1880 and 1920, then more than doubled.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Owego’s Wikipedia page.
The town was first settled around 1786. The original town of Owego was created at the time Tioga County was formed in 1791. This original town was reduced by formation of later towns in the county. The town's name is a derivative of the Iroquois word "ahwaga", which means "where the valley widens". This name came from the vast floods that run into the valley when the winter snows melt, which caused several deaths a year.
The current town of Owego was formed as the town of Tioga in 1800 from the town of Union (now in Broome County).
Confusion over the location of the village of Owego caused the legislature to have the towns of Owego and Tioga switch names in 1813 so that Owego village was within the same-named town.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Owego. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1903Owego sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Owego.
Every building
Owego, building by building, 1888–1915
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
In 1786, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Owego’s post office opened in 1800, and the census of 1820 counted 1,741 people here.
How does Owego rank for history?
Owego is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns, #187 of 758 in New York. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Owego?
9 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Tioga County Courthouse (listed 1972, the first), 2 historic districts, the Owego Central Historic District and the Riverside Cemetery, with 368 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 378 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Owego?
26% of Owego’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1964.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (15), the National Register of Historic Places (9), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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