Riverow, part of the Owego Central Business District, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This eclectic set of Front Street shops, and the Court Street Bridge over the Susquehanna, are pictured in 1909 (above) and today (below).
• The buildings in 1909 are decorated for “Old Home Week” celebrating small town and rural values.
• All the Greek Revival buildings on the right side of the street still exist today, except for the first building. They were constructed after the Great Fire of 1849.
• The structures back up to the Susquehanna River and the Riverwalk, a scenic walk opened in 2010.
• The first building, originally a grocery, today contains The Hand of Man, a store that sells antiques, collectibles and specialty foods;
and the River Rose Café.
• The left-side Italianate buildings were constructed after another fire in 1867.
• In 1909 the first building on the left housed a grocer and today a biotechnology firm.
• The bridge over the Susquehanna was replaced in 1933 and again in 2002-3.
Bet You Didn’t Know
The integrated circuitry carried on the Apollo moon missions were designed and built at IBM Federal Systems Division, Owego, now Lockheed Martin.
The Ithaca and Owego Railroad was the third chartered railroad in the US in 1828.
Belva Lockwood, the first woman to run for president on a national ticket, operated the Owego Female Seminary during the Civil War.
Tioga County Historical Museum houses more than 300 Civil War photographs and a jacket stained with Abraham Lincoln’s blood.
The Tioga County Courthouse, built between 1871 and 73 is the oldest functioning courthouse in New York State and was the tallest building in Tioga County.
