Gowanda () is a village in western New York, United States. It lies partly in Erie County and partly in Cattaraugus County. The population was 2,513 at the 2020 census. The name is derived from a local Seneca language term meaning "almost surrounded by hills" or "a valley among the hills". The Erie County portion of Gowanda is part of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area, while the Cattaraugus County portion is part of the Olean micropolitan statistical area.

The village is partly in the Town of Collins in Erie County and partly in the Town of Persia in Cattaraugus County. Bordering Gowanda is the Cattaraugus Reservation, which has a majority population of Seneca. Numerous European Americans live on the reservation in leased properties.

Gowanda Airport (D59) is a general-aviation grass strip. It is part of the Gernatt Family of Companies' land, located northwest of the village.

Zoar Valley on Cattaraugus Creek east of Gowanda features over of wilderness, hiking trails and waterfalls.

Geography Gowanda is located at (42.463197, -78.936350).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which , or 1.00%, is covered by water.

The village is split by Cattaraugus Creek, the dividing boundary between Erie and Cattaraugus Counties, with the northern part of the village in Erie County and the southern in Cattaraugus.

The village is located on US 62, Broadway Road (County Road 4), NY 39, and NY 438. The NFTA provided bus service in the area until it abandoned the route in 2011. The Seneca Transit System began serving the village in 2013.

The New York & Lake Erie Railroad has a depot in Gowanda, from which it runs both freight and occasional passenger rail service.

The Cattaraugus Reservation is located to the northwest of the village.

Demographics

2020 census As of the 2020 census, Gowanda had a population of 2,513. The median age was 45.1 years. 19.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 89.9 males age 18 and over.

96.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 3.9% lived in rural areas.

There were 1,121 households in Gowanda, of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 33.5% were married-couple households, 22.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 32.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 38.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 1,275 housing units, of which 12.1% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.5%.

+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 2,210 87.9% Black or African American 26 1.0% American Indian and Alaska Native 128 5.1% Asian 11 0.4% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0 0.0% Some other race 18 0.7% Two or more races 120 4.8% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 71 2.8%

2000 census As of the census of 2000, 2,842 people, 1,161 households, and 667 families were residing in the village. The population density was . There were 1,277 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 62.47% White, 0.49% African American, 41.54% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.21% from other races, and 1.20% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.41% of the population.

There were 1,161 households, out of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.1% were married couples living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.5% were non-families. 36.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the village, the population was spread out, with 23.5% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 23.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.5 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $29,565, and the median income for a family was $39,094. Males had a median income of $32,279 versus $25,281 for females. The per capita income for the village was $16,323. About 9.5% of families and 14.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.2% of those under age 18 and 9.5% of those age 65 or over. History

Early habitation by American Indians The area was first inhabited during the Stone Age by nomadic Algonquian peoples.Kirby, C.D. (1976). The Early History of Gowanda and The Beautiful Land of the Cattaraugus. Gowanda, NY: Niagara Frontier Publishing Company, Inc./Gowanda Area Bi-Centennial Committee, Inc. An Algonquian earthwork mound from the first or second Stone Age is located on a farm in the area of Rosenberg along Zoar Valley near Gowanda. The mound is believed to be about 3,500 years old. Artifacts including spearheads, copper heads, and stone implements of a crude nature have been excavated from the site. In the latter half of the 14th century, Iroquoian-speaking peoples traveled to the area and lived along Cattaraugus Creek. They were proud, considering themselves to be "chosen people". Other tribes lived in the area around this time. The powerful nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Iroquois) defeated the Erie people (also an Iroquoian-speaking tribe), driving them out of the area or assimilating captives by adoption in certain clans. About this time, the Five Nations of the Confederacy coalesced as distinct peoples. They made a pact of cooperation rather than warfare. They controlled much of present-day New York state west of Albany and the Hudson River.

After the Revolutionary War, the American government secured land treaties with the Haudenosaunee nations in western New York in 1784 and 1788. Because the majority of the nations had been allies of the British, they were forced to cede most of their lands in New York after the British defeat and United States independence.

In 1796 and 1797, Robert Morris purchased extensive lands in the upstate areas, mostly American Indian lands, and mortgaged them to the Holland Land Company of Willem Willink and 11 associates of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Excluded from his purchases in 1797 were territories for ten American Indian reservations within the state, with the Cattaraugus Reservation of among these. Thereafter, two land offices of the Holland Land Company were opened in Batavia, New York, and Danby, Vermont. Many early settlers to Gowanda were from the Danby area, and many were Quakers.

Settlement and incorporation Originally called "Aldrich's Mills" after the first European-American settler, Turner Aldrich, the European-American village was settled in 1810 and began to develop.Historical Sketch of the Village of Gowanda, N.Y. in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of its incorporation, August 8, 1898. Buffalo, NY: The Matthews-Northrup Company, Leonard, I.R., Reprinted 1998, Salem, MA: Higginson Book Company. He and his family of three sons and three daughters traveled up Cattaraugus Creek from Connecticut, taking of land, comprising a large portion of what is Gowanda today. Aldrich built a sawmill and in 1817 a gristmill. Records of farmers coming from a radius for their grain to be ground are held by the historical society. At that time, farmers and pioneers traveled along American Indian trails through the dense forest, with their wagons being pulled by oxen.

Jacob Taylor, a Quaker missionary from the Friends Yearly Meeting of Philadelphia, was sent in 1809 to serve the American Indians in the area. Taylor Hollow is named for him. In 1811, he built, owned, and operated a sawmill and gristmill. Other missionaries accompanied Taylor, and though they called themselves a "family," they were not related.

The village later adopted the name "Lodi", though there was confusion in mail delivery due to "Lodi" in Seneca County, New York (the post office officially used the name "West Lodi" for what is now Gowanda to distinguish the two). When the village was incorporated, it dropped that name, although the post office retained the name "Persia." The Seneca in the area knew this place as , "on the other side of the ridge", or Juc-Gowanda, meaning "a valley among the hills". The settlers adopted the name "Gowanda" for the village. It was first incorporated in 1848, and was re-incorporated in 1878 under a new state regulation. At the latter time, the village extended its territory to annex the nearby hamlet of Hidi.

19th century Most of the village in Erie County, made up of wooden buildings, was destroyed by a fire in 1856. Another fire in 1875 burned many businesses in the Cattaraugus part.

A historical book about Gowanda identifies 120 men, including Caucasians and American Indians, who were Gowanda residents and who fought in the Civil War in New York regiments. The same book also identifies six men who had been Gowanda residents, but who enlisted and fought in the Civil War with regiments from Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

Long associated with Gowanda although located outside its boundaries, the Thomas Asylum for Orphan and Destitute Indian Children (also known as the "Thomas Indian School") was built following a gift of of land on the Cattaraugus Reservation. The school was incorporated in 1855. In June 1856, the institution opened and was immediately at capacity in housing 50 orphaned American Indian children. The Thomas Asylum housed and schooled orphaned American Indian children for decades, until the latter part of the twentieth century.

In 1894, the Erie County Legislature passed an act that authorized establishment of the Homeopathic State Hospital (later known as the "Gowanda Psychiatric Center") in Gowanda and Collins. Erie County purchased of land for the hospital site, known as the "Taylor tract". When the State Care Act was effected in 1894, the land was transferred to the State of New York, which conveyed it to the state hospital.

Since the late 20th century, the facility has been adapted for use as a correctional center. It borders Taylor Hollow Road in Gowanda. The road was named for the original owner of the land that was purchased and used for the State Hospital.

20th century

Tanning and glue industries Important industries that flourished in Gowanda during the twentieth century, but which also polluted the adjoining Cattaraugus Creek, included the Peter Cooper Corporation Glue Factory and the Moench Tannery.Community gets gift of Hollywood Theater for restoration, Buffalo News - Southern Tier Edition, Buffalo, NY: Berkshire Hathaway, December 16, 1996, O'Brien, B. | Accessdate November 2, 2013. The first tannery in Gowanda was begun by Samuel T. Munger in 1829, although one was already in operation by Smith Bartlett since 1815 in Collins. In 1829, to tan one side of leather in six months was considered quick work. Other tanneries in operation in Gowanda were by the Benton Brothers; K. Webster (which was purchased by Agle & Sons in 1860); and Albert Gaensslen. In 1852, Albert Gaensslen converted the former wool factory in Gowanda to a leather plant with 12 liquor vats. The Gaensslen Brothers tannery manufactured only shoe sole leather. Gaensslen Brothers tannery was established in 1855; reorganizing as Gaensslen, Fisher & Company in 1896, following the partnership with E.C. Fisher. In 1879, the Gaensslen Brothers tannery "included 250 liquor vats and shipped 20,000 sides of sole leather to Cleveland each year." Additionally, the Agle & Sons tannery was expanded, containing 40 liquor vats and annually finishing 700 sides of leather by 1879.