• Echoes of Legacy

    By Elizabeth Spraker

    FIGURE 1.3 General Nicholas Herkimer Home, Historic View. Courtesy of Little Falls Historical Society Museum.

INTRODUCING ECHOES OF LEGACY

The Little Falls Historical Society Museum invites you to step inside the story of our community through a new weekly series, Echoes of Legacy.

Little Falls is filled with historic homes and buildings that many of us pass every day. We recognize their porches, windows, towers, brick walls, and familiar locations, but we may not always know the people who built them, lived within them, worked behind their doors, or helped shape the community around them.

Echoes of Legacy uses these homes and buildings as gateways into the lives of the people who helped create Little Falls. Through their stories, we will meet soldiers, merchants, physicians, manufacturers, educators, public officials, religious leaders, craftsmen, philanthropists, and families whose work and service left a lasting mark upon the city.

To make the architectural story easier to follow, the series is arranged according to architectural style. As the weeks progress, we will move through Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Romanesque Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, and other styles represented throughout Little Falls. Each installment will explain what to notice in the architecture, introduce the people connected with the property, and consider the legacy they left behind.

Each home will stand as its own story. Readers may begin with the first installment or join the series at any point and still discover a complete chapter of Little Falls history.

Welcome to Echoes of Legacy—where the homes of Little Falls introduce us to the people whose lives still echo through our community today.

FIGURE 2.14 Horace Burch–Ford Trask Home. Photograph © Elizabeth Spraker.

HORACE BURCH – FORD TRASK HOME

Imagine walking along North Ann Street during the first half of the nineteenth century, when Little Falls was growing beyond its earlier canal settlement and substantial brick residences were beginning to appear along the village streets.
September 1, 2026/by Little Falls Historical Society Museum
FIGURE 2.12 The First Schoolhouse. Photograph © Elizabeth Spraker.

THE FIRST SCHOOLHOUSE

Imagine Church Street in the closing years of the eighteenth century, when Little Falls was still a small settlement surrounded by rugged terrain, scattered homes, mills, and unpaved roads.
August 21, 2026/by Little Falls Historical Society Museum
FIGURE 2.10 James Sanders Home. Photograph © Elizabeth Spraker.

JAMES SANDERS HOME

Imagine Garden Street in 1827, when Little Falls was beginning to feel the effects of canal construction, new commerce, and a growing population.
August 13, 2026/by Little Falls Historical Society Museum
FIGURE 2.6 Nathaniel Benton Home. Photograph © Elizabeth Spraker.

NATHANIEL BENTON HOME

Imagine Garden Street during the early decades of the nineteenth century, when Little Falls was still growing beyond its earliest settlement.
August 6, 2026/by Little Falls Historical Society Museum
FIGURE 2.4 David Petrie Home. Photograph © Elizabeth Spraker.

DAVID PETRIE HOME

Imagine Garden Street in 1825, when Little Falls was still a growing village and the Erie Canal was nearing completion.
August 3, 2026/by Little Falls Historical Society Museum
Federal Style

The Next Seven Weeks in Echoes of Legacy: Federal Style

Over the next seven weeks, we will step into the Federal era—a period when the young United States was beginning to express its new identity
August 3, 2026/by Little Falls Historical Society Museum
FIGURE 1.1 General Nicholas Herkimer Home, Herkimer Home State Historic Site. Photograph © Elizabeth Spraker.

Echoes of Legacy: General Nicholas Herkimer Home

Beginning today, the Little Falls Historical Society Museum invites you to step inside the story of our community through a new weekly series, Echoes of Legacy.
July 28, 2026/by Little Falls Historical Society Museum

Contact Us

Little Falls Historical Society Museum
319 South Ann Street
Little Falls, NY  (Get directions)

(315) 823-0643

Contact the LFHS

Use this form for general inquiries.

OLD BANK BUILDING MUSEUM IS OPEN FOR THE 2026 SEASON BEGINNING MAY 29, 2026.

Monday, Wednesday, from 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Alternate Fridays from 1:00-4:00 p.m.
(beginning Friday, May 29)
Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to noon

For appointments, please call
Louie Baum at 315-867-3527
Mary Ann Terzi at 315-823-1502
Jeff Gressler at 315-823-2799

PLEASE CONTINUE TO VISIT OUR WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA FOR UPDATES ON OUTDOOR EVENTS, VIRTUAL TOURS & NEWS.
319 South Ann Street, Little Falls, NY, 13365