In earlier times, this territory was a prime location for
Native American travel, trade, and warfare because of its strategic location a valley surrounding the
confluence of two rivers along the New York state border where the mouth of the
Chemung River empties into the
Susquehanna River as it turns southward into
Pennsylvania. This locale was likely occupied by the
Susquehannock people for several centuries before European pathfinders discovered this place.
European settlement French explorer
Étienne Brûlé was probably the first European to visit the area, meeting with the Susquehannocks and travelling down the Susquehanna River in 1615. In the wake of the
Beaver Wars of the mid-Seventeenth Century, the area came firmly under the control of the
Iroquois, until the
Sullivan Expedition during the
American Revolutionary War broke their power. The
Battle of Newtown (August 29, 1779), the only major battle of that expedition, occurred approximately west of the current location of Waverly. John Shepard was one of the more prominent early white settlers, buying , including all of what would become Waverly, and building a mill on the banks of
Cayuta Creek in 1796. The settlement would soon become known as Milltown, just across the border in Pennsylvania. A second mill site on the creek north of the border would soon be known as
Factoryville, now East Waverly. An adjacent smaller community named Villemont also became established. At the beginning of the railroad age the community began to thrive. From 1849 to 1851, the
New York & Erie Railroad reached the vicinity, opening a rail connection eastward to
New York City via
Binghamton, and westward to
Lake Erie via
Elmira. In 1854, Waverly was incorporated as a
village. The largest celebration in the village was held on August 26, 1910; the Old Home Celebration lasted four hours and packed the streets with spectators. Several factories of historical significance contributed to a flourishing period in Waverly's development. They included the Hall-Lyons furniture factory which was located on Broad Street and the
Manoil Manufacturing Co. whose prominence as a toy company, especially from 1937 to 1941 when it produced
hollow-cast toy soldiers, sometimes called dime store soldiers, along with toy airplanes and cars, was located on Providence Street. Businesses in and around Waverly in the 20th century included the Spencer Glove Company and the
Waverly Sun newspaper, both owned by Hart I. Seely and located in Waverly; the Tioga Mills, Inc., a feed mill company and
Agway (Country Foods Division) of
Syracuse, New York, as a pet food plant. Others are the Food and Drug Research Laboratories, the State Line Auto Auction and O’Brien's Inn, known for its scenic view of the Chemung Valley. The J. E. Rodeo Ranch operated during the 1940s and 1950s in
Barton.
Grace Episcopal Church, the
United States Post Office,
Waverly Village Hall, and former
Mary W. Muldoon High School are listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. Waverly is located in a river valley in the
Allegheny Plateau just north of the confluence of the
Susquehanna and
Chemung rivers, along with
Athens, Pennsylvania,
South Waverly, Pennsylvania, and Waverly. Together, these small towns make up the greater area known as the Penn-York Valley, which includes locations in both
New York and
Pennsylvania. There is no physical border between the towns, and the grid of streets and avenues blend seamlessly from one town to another. ==Geography==