Little Falls Historical Society Museum Events
This day in history: April 12
1847
The Benton House, on the site of the future Hotel Snyder, opened for business to the public. The owner was Hon. Nathaniel Benton. The Post Office was also located there.
1866
An effort is being made locally to raise funds to send an agent to England to report upon the process of manufacturing and marketing cheese, the probable effect of the cattle plague, and other matters pertaining to the dairying interests in the state.
1877
Louis Ransom, the inventor of the steam street cars which are so successful in Philadelphia, is a native of Little Falls.
1941
An explosion in the cellar of the Murray gas station and home at the corner of Ward and East Main Streets demolished the building. William Murray was seriously hurt and later died from his injuries. It was thought that a buildup of gas fumes in the cellar caused the explosion.
1965
A wrecking crane was brought in to begin razing old structures in the “Downtown Urban Renewal” project. The first buildings to go will be the former Jay Smith Garage and the Grange Store at the corner of Albany and Second streets.
1972
Demolition is nearing completion on the First Presbyterian Church at the corner of Jackson and Lansing streets.
This day in history: April 13
1824
Gresham Skinner, a native of Connecticut, died in the Town of Columbia (south of Ilion) at age 76. Mr. Skinner was the miller at the Little Falls gristmill at the time of the June 1782 attack by Royalists and Indians. He escaped by hiding under the water wheel.
1904
The people of Little Falls were sorry and shocked to learn of the death today of the Hon. Titus Sheard who was well known throughout the entire state. As a young boy, he worked in the mills in Yorkshire, England, and came to the United States in 1856. He saved his money for school, became a teacher and eventually was the owner of several large mills in Little Falls.
This day in history: April 14
1795
A complete inventory of the property at the little falls under the management of John Porteous listed twelve houses, and also a bark mill, smith shop, currier’s shop, joiner shop, cooper’s shop, grist mill, fulling mill, saw mill, in addition to his dwelling and store. These buildings represented the beginning of the village of Little Falls.
1902
John R. Taylor, proprietor of a local hardware store, inaugurated a movement to form a retail hardware dealers association in New York State.
1917
A great loyalty demonstration was held with two thousand men, young and old alike, parading prior to the patriotic meeting in the City theatre. Rev. C.B. Papa of Utica spoke in Italian and Steve Zeman in Slovak.
This day in history: April 15
1915
Workman began tearing down the Wheeler – Harding block at the northeast corner of Main and Ann streets to make way for the new Burrell building.
Broomsticks and Ballots by Ray Lenarcic
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumI love Halloween. Always have. My earliest remembrance is dressing up in a cowboy outfit complete with flannel shirt, neckerchief, vest, chaps and the piece de resistance, a pearl-handled, silver Lone Ranger cap pistol.
Morgan’s Dairy by Bart Carrig
/by Little Falls Historical Society Museum“Around the back and up the stairs…” That’s how our mornings began.
The first time I heard that instruction, from my Uncle Morgan Carrig, it was about 5:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning, circa mid-June 1964. My older brother Kevin, who had previously enjoyed all the benefits and privileges of employment as a milk delivery boy for Morgan’s Dairy, was “unavailable” – no doubt due to a Friday night dance at Filipski’s bowling alley on the South Side.
Upon Turning 80 by Ray Lenarcic
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumI never thought about turning 80. Because I hadn’t. But now that I’m about to, I was asked by a friend if there was one word that could describe how I felt about becoming an octogenarian.
Little Falls: Cheese Capital of the World by Diane Ptak
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumSheltered in a deep curved gorge along the main transportation route across New York, Little Falls became a manufacturing leader in the latter half of the 19th century.
The Military Road and the War of 1812 by Pat Stock
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumAfter the American Revolution, many New Englanders moved to New York State – specifically to the Royal Grant that had belonged to Sir William Johnson.
Reflections on the 245th Anniversary of the Battle of Oriskany and Beyond by Jeffrey Gressler
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumTwo years into the Revolutionary War, the British three-prong campaign of 1777 sought to seize New York’s waterways and thus divide New England from the rest of the colonies.
The Quirks of Fate – Battle of Oriskany by Ray Lenarcic
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumI was asked recently my a friend- “Who are your heroes?” I answered based on my understanding that a hero is a person(s) whose effort or achievement goes way beyond the expected to the point of deserving to be memorialized for decades or even longer.