The Little Falls Historical Society Museum Annual Reports

SIGNAGE AND HISTORIC MARKERS

1795 Western Inland Lock Navigation Canal Signage  –  A year-long partnership with Rotary Little Falls culminated with the late-spring installation of two new information signs at the site of the former 1795 Canal guard gate on Elizabeth Street. These new signs nicely complement the nearby William Pomeroy Foundation financed blue and black historic marker put in place by the Historical Society and the City of Little Falls in 2022.

LITTLE FALLS HISTORIC ENTRY  –  Over five years in the planning and execution stages, the two blue and yellow Little Falls Historic Entry signs were put in place in late August. The goal of this Historical Society and City of Little Falls project is to encourage westbound Route 5 traffic to enter the City via East Main Street to view many of our most beautiful historic buildings. Highlights of this Historic Entry are Benton Hall Academy, the St. Mary’s Church Complex (please note new NYS historic marker), the Richard Ray Ward House, the Little Falls Public Library, the Loomis Burrell Home, Little Falls City Hall, the Old Bank Building Museum, and the African American Burial Ground section of Church Street Cemetery.

*The Historical Society also purchased and helped put in place  four corner markers for the African American Burial Ground portion of Church Street Cemetery in 2024. These granite markers are inscribed with a broken chain symbolizing emancipation from slavery.

Thank you to Daniel Enea for his assistance with this cornerstone project.

ALBANY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, ORENDA, AND LOCK 36

The Old Bank Building Museum was the site of a September 27th morning long rehearsal and recording session of ORENDA by six musicians, conductor, and various recording technicians from the Albany Symphony Orchestra. This original piece of music by composer Francisco del Pino was performed later that same day publicly for the first time at Lock 36 of the 1825 Old Erie Canal as part of the bicentennial celebration of this milestone.

BUILDING AND MAINTENANCE

In 2033, the Old Bank Building Museum will be 200 years old, it is one of Little Falls’ oldest buildings. The building’s interior was fully renovated in the late-1970s. The maintenance of the nearly two centuries-old building and preservation of its artifacts are the primary responsibilities of our directors and officers.

Two main interior projects for winter 2025 are repair work on several portions of deteriorated intricate plaster ceiling moldingsand repair work on a portion of interior wall planking in the museum attic’s north wall. The Board of Directors is in the process of selecting the best contractors for these two important projects. The Society will incur SUBSTANIAL EXPENSES in carrying out this work.

2024 PATRIOTS DAY

Tom Overman and his wife Mary Ellen McGillan’s historic 1824 home overlooking Alpine Nursing Home was the site of the Historical Society’s eleventh Patriots Day observance ceremony. The well-attended event included program speakers Tom Overman, Pat Stock, Nicholas Petrie, Louis Baum, Michelle Baum, Pat Frezza-Gressler, and Jeffrey Gressler. The program concluded with the laying of a commemorative wreath by the Daughters of the American Revolution and the playing of “Taps” by Dr. Oscar Stivala. Colonial Era musician Robert Schmelcher performed traditional and patriotic songs at several points during the hour-long program.

SUNY ONEONTA COOPERSTOWN MUSEUM STUDIES GRADUATE PROGRAM

The Historical Society has entered year six of partnership with the students and professor of this prestigious graduate studies program. Past students in this program have provided critical assistance to the Historical Society on projects ranging from the African American Burial Ground in Church Street Cemetery to the Little Falls Historic Entry. Past student projects can be viewed on our website. Dr. Erik Stengler is the professor for this two-year graduate degree capstone class. A student-developedpublic presentation project is being planned for 2025.

RESEARCH COMMITTEE WORK

The Historical Society receives dozens of requests each year for research assistance. Many requests are related to genealogy and family history, but numerous other requests relate to other aspects of Little Falls history. In 2024, our researchers successfully handled over 50 such requests requiring literally hundreds of hours of research work.

WEBSITE AND FACEBOOK

The Historical Society takes great pride in the content and operation of our state-of-the-art website designed and managed by Ginny Rogers and our Facebook and Instagram pages researched and managed by Missy Smith. The electronic data for 2024 is as follows:

• Website visits – 131,140 https://littlefallshistoricalsociety.org/
• Facebook visits – 327,87 https://www.facebook.com/littlefallsNYmuseum
• Instagram visits – 12,204  https://www.instagram.com/littlefallshistory/

Note – If any Historical Society member is interested in assisting our volunteers with the function and operation of our Facebook account, please contact Jeffrey Gressler through our website. Thank you for considering this request.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS  –  MOHAWK VALLEY TODAY is a regional hub that shares history, agriculture, programs, and events throughout the Mohawk Valley region. Its sister site MOHAWK VALLEY MUSEUMS highlights the history of the area through the museums and local historical societies.

https://mohawkvalley.today/​​https://mohawkvalleymuseums.us/

PLANNED FOR 2025  

Completion of the two building repair projects described earlier is of primary importance.

As noted previously, the Little Falls Historic Entry became a physical reality in 2024 after several years of focused efforts in partnership with the City of Little Falls. Three additional Historic Entry-related NYS blue and yellow historic markers will likely be put in place this spring. Thank you to the current owners of both the Richard Ray Ward House and the Loomis Burrell Home and to the board of directors of the Little Falls Public Library, as well as Holy Family Parish, for their “buy in” for this important project.

Plans are in the works to continue partnering with the city to develop additional signage for the African American Burial Ground section of Church Street Cemetery. This new sign will list the names of the over seventy people interred therein. There are only ten or twelve grave markers in this section, most of which are unreadable.

The Historical Society is also assisting city government to bring about necessary restoration of the “leaning backwards” Civil War soldier monument in Ward Square. This restoration project could also include the installation of a NYS historic marker highlighting Little Falls and Herkimer County involvement in the Civil War.

The board of directors anticipates the completion of a MUSEUM-WIDE ARTWORK INVENTORY that was started in 2024 for insurance purposes. Board director Laura Laubenthal, herself a graduate of the SUNY Oneonta Cooperstown Museum Studies graduate program and current museum professional, has taken the lead on this long overdue project.

CONCLUSION

Unfortunately, 2024 saw the passing of a number of Historical Society members. It is with sadness that we note the passing ofFred Blovat, James Dinneen, Charles (Chuck) Kelly, Anne Kirchner, Dr. Bernard Frank McEvoy, Nadine Van Buren Quinn, Father Cyprian (Bob) Rosen, Ann Schuyler, John Simpson, Linda Vincent, and Betty Wurzbacher. Apologies if any Society member who passed away in 2024 is not recognized in this listing.