Template:Wp-Catharine, New York-History

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A Seneca village informally known as Catharine's Town was located near the falls. It was destroyed by colonial forces during the Sullivan Expedition of 1779, one of more than 40 villages destroyed across western New York in retaliation for raids in the eastern part of the province.

The first European-American settlers are thought to have arrived around 1788 after the American Revolutionary War. The Seneca and other Iroquois allies of the British were forced to cede their lands in New York. The Town of Catharine was created by the New York State Legislature in 1798, with its first elections occurring in the same year. By 1805 the town had grown sufficiently that a Methodist congregation was formed in the eponymous hamlet of Catharine. An Episcopalian congregation was the first to build a church, St. John's, in 1811.

The town was originally organized as part of Chemung County, before the formation of Schuyler County. Property for Catharine was taken from the Town of Elmira (then called "Newtown") in 1798. Part of Catharine was in turn divided to form the Towns of Veteran and Catlin (both in Chemung County) in 1825. Catharine was further reduced by the formation of the Town of Montour in 1857. When Schuyler County was established in 1854, Catharine was removed from the remit of Chemung County.

The Lattin-Crandall Octagon Barn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.