The Little Falls Historical Society Museum Exhibits

Little Falls Diamonds Collection

The Little Falls Diamonds Collection features many elaborate collections of Little Falls Diamonds found right in Little Falls.

Native American Exhibit

Native Americans Exhibit includes artifacts and writing series including the Iroquois Confederacy, our Colonial Era, and the Revolutionary War.

Battle of West Canada Creek and Massacre at the Little Falls grist mill

Not too far from the Shell blockhouse, Lt. Solomon Woodworth and his scouting party were ambushed by Indians. Woodworth and 21 other brave patriots were killed in a matter of minutes. A year later, a band of nearly 300 Royalists and Iroquois Indians, attacked and destroyed the Petrie grist mill at Little Falls.

Octagon Church, early buildings and organizations

A meeting was held and eighty- eight subscribers agreed to furnish funds to build an eight sided union church to be known as the Octagon Church. John Porteus donated the land and burial ground for the church as well as twenty pounds.

Little Falls Waterways

The 4,752 foot long Western Inland Lock Navigation Company (WILNC) canal, containing five lifting locks and a guard lock, was “rendered passable” around the little falls and opened for business. 2,550 feet was through solid rock.

Early Base Ball in Little Falls

As early as 1827, the village Board of Trustees enacted an ordinance that no person shall “play Ball” on any village street or on the towing path of the Erie Canal.

Herkimer County Bank Building

The first bank in Herkimer County, modelled after the U.S. Bank in Philadelphia, was built at the corner of Ann and Albany streets on a lot purchased from Dudley Burwell.

Church Street Cemetery

Richard Ray Ward gave the property for the Church Street Cemetery to the village.

Rockton Exhibit

A petition to change the village’s name from Little Falls to Rockton, and signed by 500 plus signatures was submitted to the state Legislature.

Distant Drums

In almost every corner of Herkimer County one can easily find reminders of the great impact that the Civil War had on the people of our area.

First U.S. Cheese Market Exhibit

The Frog Fountain, which was cast in the local Reddy Foundry, was donated by Gertrude Sabin whose husband, Dr. Fred Sabin, was the first president of the Little Falls Historical Society. There were several of these which were located throughout the city and served to provide water to horses, cats, dogs, and people. People in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s took Sunday strolls and would meet at the “Frog.”

Camp Jolly Exhibit

Camp Jolly was the dream of Daniel J. Tittle, Jr. In 1893, he moved from Rensselaer to Little Falls to take the position of master mechanic — chief engineer in today’s parlance — at Eagle Mills. 

Little Falls and Women’s Suffrage

In 1894, a debate on women’s suffrage was held at the Methodist Episcopal Church on Albany Street and Susan B. Anthony was in Little Falls from September 11-13, 1894. 

Myjava, Slovakia Exhibit

It all started with a mistake. One of the first to leave Myjava, a small village of 10,000 people, was young Anna Mocko, who left for America in 1892 and settled on a farm near Minneapolis, Minnesota. Three years later, she decided to visit friends in Little Falls, New Jersey. The railroad agent in Minnesota mistook the “J” for a “Y” on her handwritten ticket, and sent Anna on her way to Little Falls, New York. It seems the “J” and “Y” is used interchangeably in Slovak.

1912 Little Falls Textile Strike

The 1912 Little Falls Textile Strike began on October 9, 1912 and was not settled until January 3, 1913. During the eighty-seven day strike two national labor unions, the International Workers of the World (IWW) and the American Federation of Labor (AFL), competed to represent the interests of the striking workers.

City Hall – A History

Little Falls received its NYS charter of incorporation in 1811 and Nathaniel Benton became our first village president. We remained a village until 1895; we then became, and remain today, the only city in Herkimer County. 

Prohibition Exhibit

Like the rest of the nation, Little Falls residents woke up to a new reality on Jan. 17, 1920, the 18th Amendment was official and for the next 13 years the manufacture, transportation and sale of intoxicating beverages was illegal.

Athletics Wing Collection

Between 1930 and 2019, Little Falls athletes and teams captured five New York state championships, the last one in 2001. Eighty-nine years, five championships. 

1940 Gulf Curve Train Wreck

April 19 Less than a quarter of a mile down the street from the school was the Gulf Curve, which was the sharpest curve in the New York Central Railroad System.

World War II and Korean Conflict Exhibit

Looking back 75 years to 1941 when America entered World War II, it is difficult to grasp the sense of peril that gripped the nation and our allies as totalitarian dictatorships ruled much of the world. Freedom and democracy were threatened. Later on June 25, 1950, the Soviet Union-supplied North Korean army invaded South Korea. American forces were soon fighting in Korea. A three-year seesaw conflict ended with a 1953 ceasefire.

Urban Renewal Exhibit

The Urban Renewal Exhibit chronicles the changes from the 1950s and 1960s throughout Little Falls, including Main Street, spurred by the community’s urban renewal initiatives.

Little Falls Music Exhibit

The 1950s-60s brought America rock and roll, West Coast surfer music, Motown, the British invasion and later, anti-war protest and psychedelic music; local rock and roll bands provided us with an exciting “in person” ride on the same soundtrack. We owe much to these early local rockers and this is an attempt to tell their stories and ours. 

Vietnam War Exhibit

The Vietnam War Exhibit features a selection of memorabilia and collections to remember the 130 Little Falls service members who fought in the Vietnam War. 

Both the Making History Today and Making History Today Student Edition were developed by the Little Falls Historical Society Museum and Little Falls School District to serve as a repository for residents and students to submit written work, artwork, photographs and other materials related to the COVID-19 pandemic.