Gowanda, NY Community Info

Gowanda is a village located partially in Erie County, New York and also in Cattaraugus County, New York. The Erie County part of Gowanda, NY is included in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Cattaraugus County area of the village is part of the Olean Micropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2013 census, Gowanda, NY has a population of 2,671. 

 

The area that is present-day Gowanda was originally inhabited by Algonquin peoples, but other tribes, including the Erie & Seneca people, also lived on the land. After the Revolutionary War, these tribes made treaties with the American people. The village was settled in 1810, but it wasn’t incorporated until 1848, then later re-incorporated in 1878 due to new state regulations. The name “Gowanda” comes from a native term that translates to “a valley among the hills,” or “almost surrounded by the hills.”