Overview of Bath, NY

Founded in 1793, the historic Village of Bath, NY has flourished for years in New York’s Finger Lakes region. Considered the Gateway to the Finger Lakes, we are conveniently located right off Interstate 86, providing travelers easy access to a bounty of beautiful lakes, nationally-acclaimed wineries, and picturesque scenery. We celebrate our agriculture-based roots each June with the Dairy Festival, recognizing the contributions of our local farmers to our strong dairy-based economy. As the Steuben County seat, Bath also houses many county-wide offices and services. A place for all ages, our area is home to nationally-recognized schools, a variety of thriving industries, and was recently ranked in among the top 10 places in New York to retire to. We invite you to explore our village and surrounding areas and hope you enjoy our home as much as we do.

Looking around the topography of the area, you will notice the hills are closely matched in height and the land dips and rolls with jagged ravines, some wide valleys, rolling hills, depressions, and knolls. Most recently, the continental glaciers that flowed south and covered this area during the Pleistocene epoch— over 1.5 million years ago—caused this. The accumulation of snow and ice and the resulting pressure caused the ice to flow. When the melt rate increased, the glacier advanced. It is through these movements, the depositing of rock debris, and the excavation of the land beneath by the ice that reshaped the river valleys, leaving it much as we see it today.

When the glacier stood still for a period of time, a blockage of the valleys occurred by material that was deposited by the glacier. The Ira Davenport Memorial Hospital on Rte. 54 sits atop one of these mounds, locally known as Hospital Hill. In other instances, huge glacial ice blocks remained constant and debris built up around them—then when the ice melted, it left large depressions in the land.

Streams of melting water flowing off the glacier and depositing a small delta formed some mounds. The land around the golf course at the Bath Country Club on May St., is a good example of this as noted by the many knolls, depressions, and swampy areas that comprise the 18-hole course.

Bath stands at an elevation of 1,090 feet above sea level and Mossy Bank Park on Sharps Hill overlooking the village rises to 1,600 feet.