[2] The name is derived from the Iroquois word Ahwaga, meaning "where the valley widens".

The original town of Owego was created at the time Tioga County was formed in 1791.

The town's name is a derivative of the Iroquois word "ahwaga", which means "where the valley widens".

[3] This name came from the vast floods that run into the valley when the winter snows melt, which caused several deaths a year.

[citation needed] The Hiawatha Farm, Waits Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery, and Vesper Cliff are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Southern Tier Expressway (New York State Route 17) crosses the town on the river's south bank.

Until the 1960s, the Erie Lackawanna Railroad operated passenger trains through Owego, for trips from Buffalo to Hoboken, New Jersey: the Phoebe Snow, ending in 1966; the overnight New York Mail/ Owl, ending in 1967; and the Lake Cities between Chicago and Hoboken, which was the last EL passenger train through Owego on January 6, 1970.

Remnants of Tropical Storm Lee dumped massive amounts of rain over the region, causing the Susquehanna River to rapidly overflow its banks.