Little Falls Historical Society Museum Events
This day in history: June 19
1903
Mrs. Emily E. Jones has been granted an absolute divorce from her husband, Hadley Jones, whose whereabouts are not known. Mrs. Jones, by virtue of the decree, will resume her maiden name, Mrs. Emily E. Neff.
1909
The newly completed Little Falls Country Club is located on ample lands midway between Little Falls and Herkimer. It is an attractive place easily reached at any time by highway or electric road. A great number of the city’s most prominent residents are members.
1915
Distinguished Masons from throughout the state gathered in Little Falls to dedicate the majestic, new Masonic Temple at the corner of Prospect and School streets The building was designed, after the French Medieval Period, by William Neil Smith, Masonic Grand Lodge Master Architect.
1986
The City of Little Falls was fined $1,000 by the New York State Department of Health for swimming pool violations after an investigation into the drowning of nine-year-old John DuPont in July 1985. The city was charged with “failure to maintain diatomaceous earth filters and proper operating condition,” and “failure to maintain the pool sidewall and bottom free from visible residue.”
This day in history: June 20
1866
Boys playing with matches set fire to the wooden framed St. Mary’s church, the first Catholic church building in Little Falls, which had been constructed in 1847. The loss amounted to ten thousand dollars. Services were held in Keller Hall until a new edifice could be built.
1895
The first bicycle turned out at the shop of Snyder & Fisher made its appearance on the streets of Little Falls this afternoon. It is a handsome machine capable of carrying a weight of 900 pounds.
1898
A quantity of black bass from the state hatchery were placed in the Mohawk River.
1912
The problem of sterilization of milking machines and dairy equipment was a puzzling dilemma. Loomis Burrell reached out to Cornell University in 1911 for help. They sent a young bacteriologist, Lois Watson Wing, to Little Falls and she, working with Burrell, solved the problem with a solution of chlorine and lime (Clorox.) The couple married on this date in Ithaca.
1997
An 1855 stone building on the Mohawk River in Canal Place is being rehabilitated for the Little Falls Antique Center better known as Mills at 25 West. The project, being undertaken by Alan and Linda Vincent, will house a greatly expanded antique center, executive loft apartments, and professional office space.
From the Cooney Archives
Eagle Down by John Frazier
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumDonnie Coffin was somewhat of an enigma. Those who remember him recall him as an easygoing guy, but not many people have vivid memories of him.
Little Falls Philanthropy by Louis W. Baum
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumWhat did wealthy people do with their money? Some spent lavishly on themselves and their families caring little for their fellow man; others were philanthropic. Over the years, the citizens of Little Falls have greatly benefited in many different ways from the philanthropy of several of its leading residents who lived here in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Bygone Little Falls winters of skiing and sledding by Jeffrey Gressler
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumDecades before there was a Pine Ridge ski center in Salisbury or a Shu-maker Mountain ski area outside Little Falls, generations of Little Falls winter sports enthusiasts skied and sledded down the vertical drops that typify our steep, narrow Mohawk Valley topography.
Help keep community history alive this Christmas
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumAs the holidays are upon us, the Little Falls Historical Society would like you to consider giving loved ones and friends copies of the great book BEYOND OUR BICENTENNIAL as Christmas gifts.
The Little Falls Historical Society Honors our Nation’s Veterans
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThe Little Falls Historical Museum would like to honor all US Military Veterans for Veteran’s Day, November 11, 2022.
1882: The Year of Pestilence, Death and Solutions in Little Falls by David Krutz
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThe summer of 1882 was a bad time to be an inhabitant of Little Falls as sickness and death raged throughout the village. In those few months, an estimated sixty people died, with hundreds more sickened – over half of the deaths were of infants and adolescents. Cholera, typhoid fever and “brain congestion”, at the time often lumped together as “malarial disease”, were the culprits. Victims of cholera suffered severe cases of diarrhea and subsequent dehydration, with death sometimes occurring within hours or a few days from the onset of symptoms.
Those Were The Days by John Frazier
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumSt. Mary’s Parish (now Holy Family Parish) had a new priest, and this was his first assignment out of the seminary. He was young, he was friendly, he had an easy smile, most of the girls liked him because he was good looking, and the boys liked him because if there was a basketball game going on, he liked to take off his collar and join the game.