The town of Owego was organized on March 14, 1800. As with most of the small towns along the Susquehanna River, agriculture and lumber were the first major industries and continue to thrive today. The river was central to the town's development, with steamboats constructed on its banks carrying thousands of happy excursionists to Hiawatha Island to spend the day picnicking, dancing, and bowling at the island hotel. A number of farms disappeared in the 1950s, giving way to housing developments constructed to accommodate a huge workforce brought in by International Business Machines, a company that chose Owego's picturesque hillside as the building site of its military products plant. The town of Owego has managed to balance high technology with the rural ambiance that has defined it for centuries, and each of its six hamlets continues to take pride in their history.