Vestal is a town within Broome County in the Southern Tier of New York, and lies between the Susquehanna River and the Pennsylvania border. As of the 2010 census, the population was 28,043.Vestal is on the south border of the county and is west and southwest of Binghamton.Vestal is home to Binghamton University which draws visitors to the town through its entertainment and sporting events. The university adds thousands of students to the town and employs more than 3,000 faculty and staff.HistoryThe first European settlers arrived in Vestal around 1785.The central area of Vestal, near Route 26 at Choconut Creek, was the site of an indigenous village of the Ochugnut tribe of the Tuscarora people. During the American Revolution, a squad of soldiers from the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, under the command of Lt. William McKendry were sent to engage the tribes, when possible, and destroy their homes and crops. During the summer of 1779, the squad did burn at least two villages without encountering resistance, including one situated in what is now nearby downtown Binghamton (the Chenango, at the confluence of the Chenango and Susquehanna rivers), and the Ochugnut (Choconut) at the site of Choconut Creek near present-day Vestal High School.
