Little Falls Historical Society Museum Events

  • This day in history: December 19

    1898

    The old Girvan House suffered severely from fire forcing forty-five guests and other inmates out into the cold. The fire was believed to have started in the rear of Joe Wright’s fruit store.

    1933

    It’s full speed ahead to get the Melrose Slipper company of New York City into operation in Little Falls. All doubts about the ability of the company to secure a sufficiency of help would seem to be removed by the number of applications made to the company’s New York office. 125 to 150 jobs are projected.

    1941

    WW II Era – A record 181 trains on the New York Central line passed through Little Falls in a single day.

  • This day in history: December 20

    1855

    General Z.C. Priest received $166.66 per month as Assistant Superintendent of the railroad.

    1910

    Some weeks ago, the Presbyterian church society purchased a large lot on Jackson Street upon which a parish house was to be erected. An announcement was made today, with a change of plans, that David H. Burrell has donated $50,000 to cover the expense of a project which became the fully equipped Y.M.C.A. on the site.

    1920

    Headlines screamed ”PHOENIX MILLS CLOSE FOR INDEFINITE PERIOD” as about 1000 hands were unemployed, heralding the beginning of a major business depression. Three months later, the workers returned to work accepting a 23% reduction in wages rather than remaining unemployed.

From the Cooney Archives

News and Updates

Morgan’s Dairy by Bart Carrig

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“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.

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Upon Turning 80 by Ray Lenarcic

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I 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.

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Little Falls Cheese Market | Little Falls Historical Society Museum | Little Falls NY

Little Falls: Cheese Capital of the World by Diane Ptak

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Sheltered 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.

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The Military Road and the War of 1812 by Pat Stock

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After the American Revolution, many New Englanders moved to New York State – specifically to the Royal Grant that had belonged to Sir William Johnson.

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Reflections on the 245th Anniversary of the Battle of Oriskany and Beyond by Jeffrey Gressler

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Two 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.

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The Quirks of Fate – Battle of Oriskany by Ray Lenarcic

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I 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.

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Growing Up on The Southside 1957 – 1970 by Gary T. Staffo

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For the past 8 years I have had the privilege of conducting a history and storytelling tour, “Growing Up on The Southside 1957 – 1970.”

It is important to understand how and why this tour started. It was to have a better understanding of why the “Southside” of Little Falls, NY has such a very special and perhaps unique place in the hearts of each and all who have had the privilege of growing up there during the “baby boomers” period, and those who followed, up until perhaps the late 1970s, when it’s aura and special ethnic qualities faded away.

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