Montour Falls, NY

Montour Falls is a Schuyler County village named for the waterfall at the end of West Main Street—and for Queen Catharine Montour, whose 18th-century home stood near the village site. The earlier settlement was Catharine's Landing, then Havana after its 1836 incorporation, before the name changed to Montour Falls in 1893. The Chemung Canal opened in 1833 and made the village the southern port for Seneca Lake, connecting Finger Lakes trade to the Chemung River. Today Catharine Creek, the waterfall, and the canal route still give Montour Falls its shape. It is a village where the natural feature and the historical name are both on the sign.