Early Settlement

 

Native Americans had several villages in the Big Flats area before the arrival of white settlers. The largest was called Runonvea, located southeast of what is now the hamlet of Big Flats. Others were near what is now Fitches Bridge and along Sing Sing Creek. The Iroquois, or Haudenosaunee, villages were all destroyed by troops during the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign of 1779. Christian Myneer (Minier) arrived with his wife and seven children in 1787. More settlers soon followed. The post office was formed in 1809 to serve the growing population. The town of Big Flats was separated from the town of Elmira and incorporated in 1822.