Little Falls Historical Society Museum Events
This day in history: December 15
1891
The toboggan chute off East Monroe Street is ready for business. Water pipes have been laid so the slide can be sprinkled and kept in condition. Tobogganing will doubtless be one of our popular winter sports.
1931
An ambulance, once owned by the Mary Imogene Bassett hospital in Cooperstown, has been refinished inside and out, and was donated to the city by Dr. H. W. Vickers. The firemen will care for the machine.
1933
Fifty-five men went to work on approved CWA projects in the city. These tasks include construction of the Summit Avenue storm sewer, building new sewer manholes, and graveling roads within the city. Working six hours a day for five days a week, foremen receive $1.20 an hour and laborers 53 cents an hour.
1949
John Crowley, Editor and chief stockholder of the Evening Times for nearly sixty years passed away today. He influenced much of what went on in Little Falls through his stinging editorials in his newspaper.
2007
The inaugural “Christmas in Little Falls” celebration was held.
This day in history: December 16
1886
About one thousand people were present at the public meeting under the auspices of the Knights of Labor, at the Skinner Opera House. The assemblage was addressed by Mr. T. B. Barry who talked about the local labor situation, and his unsuccessful attempts to meet and negotiate with head of the Little Falls Manufacturers Association.
This day in history: December 17
1845
The first electric communication through Little Falls was the telegraph line of the Utica and Schenectady railroad. A contract was made on this date and the telegraph line was installed in 1846.
1917
A good number of recently built US submarine chasers, moving down the canal, stopped in Little Falls on their way to New York City. They will bolster our shore defenses.
This day in history: December 18
1830
Disgusted with alien ownership, Little Falls citizens met to petition the New York State legislature to enforce the Alien Land Law of 1817.
1896
James Riley has secured, for the sum of $25, the privilege from the State, of using the part of the canal known as Leigh’s Level for an ice skating rink. Little Falls school children are allowed free at specific times. The general public is to pay an admission charge of five cents for using the rink.
LITTLE FALLS HISTORICAL SOCIETY ANNOUNCES 2022 WRITING SERIES
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThe officers and directors of the Little Falls Historical Society are proud to announce that their 2022 writing series will be dedicated to former Little Falls social studies teacher Helen Dunteman.
The Old Bank Building Survives and Thrives by Pat Frezza-Gressler
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThe 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.
Palatine Germans in Search of a Land to Call Home by Ginny Rogers
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumJanuary 17, 2022 marks the 300th anniversary of the Burnetsfield Patent.
The earliest European settlers in the Mohawk Valley came from what is now southwest Germany. Under near constant threat of destruction, whether from multiple wars, invasions, or the plague, in the near hundred years leading up to the 18th century, the southwest German population experienced extreme hardship.
MISS HELEN DUNTEMAN
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumHelen Dunteman was a highly respected social studies teacher in the Little Falls school district for many years, retiring in 1962. Helen was both a lifelong Little Falls resident and a graduate of Oneonta State Normal School. She passed away in 1984.
Growing up on the South Side from the early 1950’s through the late 1960’s By Donald F. Staffo
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumIn the 1950s and 1960s, Little Falls was a bustling blue-collar mill town of about 9,000 people with many hard-working citizens employed in its numerous factories. Most of the factories were on Mill Street which ran parallel to the railroad tracks on the southern side with a few factories on the other side of the tracks. My parents, and most of the parents of my friends, worked in the mills. None wore a tie to work.
A Pizza Story by James Papaleo
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumIf you lived in Little Falls in the late-1950s through early-1980s I bet you ate at least one slice of Papaleo’s pizza or one of the delicious hoagies (subs) that came out of the family restaurant owned by my parents Anthony (Tony) and Grayce Papaleo.
Even today, 40 years after the restaurant closed, people still tell me and my sisters how our Dad’s pizza and hoagies were the best they have ever eaten. I might be biased, but I agree because I have never found another pizza or hoagie like Dad’s.
South Side Cigar Stores by Gary Staffo
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThis article came about as part of the research started for the Southside Veteran’s Recognition Project, which was displayed during the September 2013 Southside Reunion. It covers the period from the 1930s through the mid-1970s and the role three Southside cigar stores played in the lives of the young men who grew up hanging out around them.