Biohazard and Pathogen Disinfection in Gowanda, NY

Gowanda is a village split between two counties — Cattaraugus Creek cuts through it, putting the northern part in Erie County (Town of Collins) and the southern part in Cattaraugus County (Town of Persia).

The name Gowanda comes from the Seneca phrase Juc-Gowanda, meaning "a valley among the hills" or "almost surrounded by hills."

The area was first settled in 1810 by Turner Aldrich, whose mills gave the settlement its first name, Aldrich's Mills; it was later called Lodi before being incorporated as the Village of Gowanda in 1848.

Gowanda was re-incorporated in 1878 under a new state regulation, at which time it annexed the nearby hamlet of Hidi.

Gowanda had a population of 2,513 at the 2020 census, down from its peak of 3,352 in 1960, and New York State Comptroller data put the village at about 1,088 households in 2020.

The village directly borders the Cattaraugus Reservation, whose population is majority Seneca Nation.

Just outside the village, the Thomas Asylum for Orphan and Destitute Indian Children — known as the Thomas Indian School — was incorporated in 1855 on land donated from the Cattaraugus Reservation and opened in 1856 at full capacity with 50 Native American children.

In 1894 the Erie County Legislature authorized a state hospital in Gowanda and Collins that later became the Gowanda Psychiatric Center.

Fire has repeatedly reshaped the village: most of the wooden Erie County side was destroyed by fire in 1856, and another major fire burned many businesses on the Cattaraugus County side in 1875.

East of Gowanda, Zoar Valley along Cattaraugus Creek protects more than 2,000 acres of wilderness with hiking trails and waterfalls.