This area had long been inhabited by indigenous peoples. After the American Revolutionary War, the United States mounted the Northwest Indian War to push Native American peoples out of what it then called the Northwest - the area of the Midwest south of the Great Lakes and west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Avoca, The first settler arrived around 1794. At that time, the area was home to the Seneca Indians. The town was formed from parts of four other towns in 1843: Bath, Cohocton, Howard, and Wheeler.