This original group headed by Edward Cooney, Mary Louise Cooney, Harold Sperbeck, Lyda Loucks, Mary Grace, Robert McEvoy, Fred Sabin, John Gallagher and John George received a provisional charter from the University of the State of New York Education Department on April 26, 1963, and an absolute charter five years later.
The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 – one of the first in the area to be so honored. Purchased by the Little Falls Historical Society in 1977, it was carefully restored to its present grandeur over a seven-year period and, since 1985, has served as the depository for the society’s collections.
The Little Falls Historical Society charter states, “This museum exists to discover, collect, display and conserve data, documents and artifacts that are a part of the history of Little Falls and to maintain an institution on educational usefulness.”
Constructed of native stone in 1833 as the first bank in Herkimer County and placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1970, the Little Falls Historical Society’s Old Bank Building Museum has had a storied past. 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of this designation and it is time to celebrate this great building as the survivor that it is!
The current generation of Old Bank Building Museum stewards stands on the shoulders of the small group of community visionaries who succeeded in their efforts to save the structure from the 1960’s urban renewal wrecking ball. Let’s begin by highlighting the chronology of important events related to this 1970 landmark designation.
Little Falls’ 1961 Sesquicentennial Celebration served as the catalyst for a small group of “history buffs” to secure a central location where important community artifacts would be permanently housed, displayed, and made available for research purposes. This group first met officially on November 29, 1962, and what would become our Historical Society was launched. Their headquarters was the GAR room upstairs in City Hall. In 1963 the Historical Society was granted a permanent charter by NYS.
By 1962, the Kennedy administration’s Urban Renewal program was in full swing; Little Falls received its first grant and demolition began on the south side of Main Street from Second Street eastward to William Street. A phase two grant was to be used to demolish the block of buildings between Ann and Second Streets, including the historic Old Bank Building. Historical Society president Dr. Fred Sabin first voiced the idea of saving the historic structure in 1965.
Of critical importance was the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. Lady Bird Johnson headed the commission which developed a national inventory of properties and buildings central to American character and identity. A mechanism had been created to protect such properties. What seems like commonsense today, historic preservation was at that time a radical idea “standing in the way of progress.”
Using this law as a guiding principle, the early members of the Historical Society stood four-square against the demolition of the Old Bank Building which upset many others, including the then-current administration. Old Bank Building demolition would allow for a larger parking lot for the new Herkimer County Trust building. The preserved need for fourteen extra parking spaces was pitted against the preservation of an important piece of community history.
This struggle played out for the next four years until the 1970 placement of the building on the NRHP; at that point, the structure was sacrosanct; some in the community were livid that a small group of “backward leaning preservationists” had stymied progress. Would anyone today trade the museum for those fourteen parking spaces?
To quote from a 1966 NYS Historic Trust newspaper article, “The old Herkimer County Bank Building, dating from 1833, is a work of the Greek Revival style, characteristic of the period. To discover a 130-year old bank is itself important, moreover, while much of the architecture of this period is constructed of wood, here we find a stone building with cut stone used in a monumental manner.”
Current Historical Society member Elaine Sperbeck remembers her father Harold being on the phone with the National Historic Preservation Commission in Washington making the case for Registry inclusion for the Old Bank Building. Using the Commission’s three criteria, Sperbeck reasoned that the building was associated with events significant to local history, that the building was associated with persons significant in local history, and that the building does embody distinctive characteristics of a type and period of architecture and construction.
The Old Bank Building met each of these criteria and on March 5, 1970, the structure was officially placed on the National Registry of Historic Places.The Old Bank Building then sat in a sort of limbo and neglect from 1970 until 1977 when the Historical Society purchased the structure. Seven years of extensive restoration followed, and by 1985, Historical Society artifacts had been safely moved to the new museum.
The building that had served as the first bank in Herkimer County, as the office of the local Red Cross, as a mortuary, as a temporary location for the Little Falls National Bank, as the Railway Express office, and as a storage area for Lovenheim’s dry goods store had become the primary repository of local history.
Edward and Mary Louise Cooney, Natalie Derby, John Gallagher, John George, Mary Grace, Lydia Loucks, Robert McEvoy, Dr. Fred Sabin, Harold Sperbeck, and Ralph Van Horn.
Apologies if anyone involved in this effort was not included in this listing. Additionally, it is important to extend thanks to all those individuals, past and present, who followed in the footsteps of the above visionaries by their involvement and stewardship of the museum.
As Margaret Mead’s famous quote states: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Although the world certainly wasn’t changed, thanks to the efforts of the small group of committed citizens in saving the building from urban renewal, the Little Falls Historical Society remains an important community institution with plenty of parking nearby!
Pat Frezza-Gressler is a member of the Little Falls Historical Society.
A view of the building as it appeared prior to scheduled demolition.
The wisdom of historic preservation has not always been a given. The desire by some to preserve old buildings and places is at times pitted against those who would rather “start over” with new construction.
In the early 1970s, many Little Falls residents wanted to tear down the Old Bank Building in the name of progress to make way for more parking spaces while a handful of early preservationists fought hard to preserve the iconic Greek Revival architectural treasure. The primary purpose of this article is to close out our BEYOND OUR BICENTENNIAL soon-to-be published book and focus on that structure once more.
“A sense of identity springs from knowing where you come from. It feels good to walk down the same streets your grandfather did, especially if there’s something about those streets that still looks like it did back then. That’s part of the reason people have taken to the streets, armed with paint scrapers, plumb bobs, old blueprints and memories: to rediscover their own town’s origins”
So opened the 1973 publication OLD GLORY: A PICTORIAL REPORT ON THE GRASS ROOTS HISTORY MOVEMENT AND THE FIRST HOMETOWN HISTORY PRIMER, published by the America the Beautiful Fund. The book celebrated and sought to serve as a guide for others, reporting on nationwide efforts of citizens to salvage “the history of American before it falls down, is paved over or dies with the lost memories.” How did the Old Bank Building and Little Falls make their way into the pages of this publication along with seventy-five other cities and towns from twenty-nine states?
Additionally, separate grants of $1000 and $6950 were awarded to the Little Falls Historical Society in 1973 as an organization that “gives aid to community projects to protect the quality of the natural, historic and manmade environment.” The uniqueness of an 1833 bank constructed of native stone and dressed limestone details was being recognized and efforts to preserve the structure were being lauded.
In 1970, the Old Bank Building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. An earlier article from the 2020 writing series, entitled “Old Bank Building Reaches a Milestone” captures much of the community drama that unfolded around this building. Controversy abounded between preservationists and those who chose not to see beyond the then present condition of the Old Bank Building. An article authored by Louis Baum in the book TOWARDS OUR BICENTENNIAL, and found on the Historical Society’s website, focuses on the detailed history of the Old Bank Building.
Shortly after the 1970 designation, the Utica Daily Press published an article entitled “Little Falls Bank Stirs Dispute” in which its author Richard Williams (Clinton historian) closed his piece with the question “… Will the bank building that began in the 1830s … fall prey to the cries of progress or will history and a unique remaining commercial bit of the Greek Revival style be maintained, rehabilitated and eventually used by Little Falls residents in the future?”
Front left of building- The stone commemorating the bank was donated by the Class of 1982 after National Register placement and during restoration work.
Dueling letters to the editor, articles reporting on the controversy, and competing ads in the Little Falls Evening Times illustrated the contentious debate on this issue. The Urban Renewal Agency and the then current city administration, along with a portion of Little Falls residents, called for demolition. On the other side of the issue were Historical Society members and other preservationists who fought to save the building from the wrecking ball. A compromise between new construction and historic preservation was eventually accomplished within the same city block.
This battle culminated with the 1976 purchase of the building by the Historical Society from the Urban Renewal Agency for $9000. The Old Bank Building’s placement on the National Register of Historic Places was the lynchpin for preservation. The building had been saved and then purchased by the Historical Society. Victory, sort of.
The immensity of building restoration lay ahead, the real battle had just begun. The Old Bank Building was in dilapidated condition and what followed was a protracted 1976 through the early-1980s complete restoration project carried out by devoted volunteers and skilled craftsmen alike. Since its 1985 official opening, the Old Bank Building Museum has been the repository for Historical Society archives and artifacts collected, stored, and displayed by a succession of committed Society members.
One purpose of this article is to help acquaint the current generation with the huge task of renovation that our forbears undertook and accomplished in turning this rundown historic gem into the vibrant community resource that it is today. May this awareness yield appreciation and a strengthened resolve by this and future generations to do their part to carry forward the torch and continue in the footsteps of those who preceded us by protecting much community history.
Past use of building.
The “then and now” pictures that follow provide a visual testimony of the task that had been undertaken and accomplished by those undaunted foundation members. The task of maintaining the 188-year old building is an ongoing community obligation.
The seventy-five articles contained in this book reflect in part the expanded scope of activity that the present generation of Society members has undertaken in recent years. This would include:
In summary, the role of the Little Falls Historical Society has expanded beyond our museum itself to have broader community educational impact. The founding Society members would much approve of this expanded activity as a continuation of their vision, persistence, and seminal work.
“It is said, at its best, preservation engages the past in a conversation with the present over a mutual concern for the future.
~ William Murtagh – the first keeper of the National Register of Historic Places ~
NOTE: Additional photos can be found on the LFHS website. Furthermore, due to the fact that the exhibits change, some of these newly updated pictures will also change, however the exhibits will remain on our website.
Pat Frezza-Gressler is a member of the Little Falls Historical Society.
The building of the Bank in Little Falls met opposition from what nearby Village?
The Village of Herkimer
The Herkimer County Bank was modeled after what pre-existing building?
US Bank Of Philadelphia
What was the cost to build the Herkimer County Bank in 1833?
$3,000.00
Each limestone pillar was made out of how many pieces of stone?
One
What two historical Churches in Little Falls are made out of the same limestone?
St. Mary’s & Emmanuel Episcopal Church
Can you name a few other Businesses that used the building over the years after Herkimer County Bank moved to Main St?
In 1964, Urban Renewal owned the Herkimer County Bank building and wanted it demolished for what reason?
To make a parking lot for vehicles.
A group of Little Falls Citizens that enjoyed history fought to save the building in the late 1960’s and formed a Society that was known by what name?
Little Falls Historical Society
The Little Falls Historical Society Museum open as a depository for our Village’s historic treasures in what year?
1985
What is the oldest Crown Jewel document that the Museum holds on exhibit?
1755 Patent land grant to John Jost Shnell & Jacob Zimmerman
What National Trading Market gathered at the Museum’s corner to conduct business in 1870’s?
Cheese Market
The Museum has a canceled Stock Certificate on exhibit from 1817 that was used for what original purpose?
To raise money to build the Canal.
Who drew the Museum’s oldest map on exhibit called the 1821 Turnpike Map?
Sabra Arnold
Where was the Octagon Church’s Bible found that is on exhibit?
In the Church yard.
City Hall – A History
