South Valley is a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 250 at the 2020 census. The name is derived from the town's geographical attributes.
South Valley is in the southwest corner of the county and is east of the city of Jamestown.
History
The town was first settled in 1798 by Quaker missionaries, who attempted to teach the local Indians agriculture and skills needed to cooperate with non-native settlers. The Quakers started a school in 1803 and erected a sawmill in 1812, but the mill caused dissension in the tribe and, at the request of Seneca leaders Cornplanter and Handsome Lake, was pulled down. Cornplanter (who spent his last years on a tract of land just south of South Valley) maintained respectful relations with the Quakers in his later life, despite differences with the group in regard to cultural assimilation. In 1838 the Quakers intervened to prevent the Ogden Land Company from acquiring the Senecas' land (as had been agreed to in the Treaty of Buffalo Creek), and in 1842 a new Treaty of Buffalo Creek allowed the Senecas to keep their land. The town of South Valley was formed in 1847 from the south part of the town of Randolph.
Much like the then-adjacent town of Red House, South Valley depended heavily on lumber for its early economy, and the town's population peaked in 1890, when over 1,000 residents lived there. The spin-off of Elko and the Panic of 1893 cut the town's population by more than half, starting a decline that would last several decades. Much of the town was evacuated and razed in 1965 when the Kinzua Dam was constructed, as many small communities that once inhabited the town along the Allegheny River were flooded; by 1970, South Valley's population bottomed out at 164 people, a number that has since modestly rebounded. Maps of Cattaraugus County produced today will sometimes make note of the now-mostly abandoned hamlet of Onoville (still marked on I-86 and on navigation signs). A marina was constructed where Onoville used to be. Onoville's name was reputedly the result of objections to the original town's nickname, "Jugville"; after residents exclaimed "oh, no" to using the Jugville name, a fellow resident flippantly suggested "Onoville" instead, which was accepted.
If Onoville had ever been assigned a ZIP Code, it would have likely been 14764, as gaps in the United States Postal Service's online database have ZIP codes 14761 to 14764 missing, with a town name somewhere alphabetically between Olean and Oramel; as Olean is substantially larger and ZIP Codes 14761 through 14763 were likely reserved for it but never used, it is unknown whether 14764 was reserved for Olean or Onoville). If the ZIP Code had been assigned, it likely was never used, since by the time ZIP Codes were rolled out outside the cities in 1963, the Kinzua Dam was already being built. The Onoville post office closed June 30, 1964.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.67%, is water.
The southern town line is the border of Pennsylvania and the western town line is the border of Chautauqua County.
The Allegheny Reservoir cuts through the town.
The South Valley State Forest occupies much of the town's area.
Adjacent towns and areas
The south town line is the border of the townships of Pine Grove, Elk, and Mead in Warren County, Pennsylvania, and Corydon Township in McKean County, Pennsylvania. The west town line is the border of the town of Carroll in Chautauqua County, New York. To the east is the Allegany Reservation and the town of Coldspring. North of South Valley is the town of Randolph.
Highways
New York State Route 950A (West Bank Perimeter Road) is the primary road through South Valley and leads to I-86 and NY 394 to the northeast and Pennsylvania to the southwest. County Road 33 (Bone Run Road) connects NY-950A to U.S. Route 62 in Carroll. County Road 89 (Sawmill Run Road) connects to NY-950A in the former community of Onoville and leads directly to US 62 in Frewsburg.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 302 people, 126 households, and 89 families residing in the town. The population density was 8.2 people per square mile (3.2/km2). There were 320 housing units at an average density of 8.7 per square mile (3.3/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 98.01% White, 0.33% African American, 1.32% Native American and 0.33% Asian.