Little Falls Historical Society Museum Events

  • This day in history: November 1

    1891

    Forty-eight Italians arrived in Little Falls from Buffalo to work on the Little Falls – Dolgeville railroad.

    1893

    “Big Frank,” the little 90 pound kangaroo, which was to have boxed at the Star Academy, died in that building from cramps.

    1952

    Radio station WLFH broadcast a pre-election segment to supplement their coverage of the Get Out the Vote campaign which began on Oct. 8 with the mission of registering unregistered voters and continued through the month as this week’s Election Day approached. The program was a live broadcast from 6:30-6:45 hosted by committee chairperson, Edwin Marion, who summarized the efforts and interviewed 4 key volunteers in the campaign: Mrs. Frederika Conrad, Miss Inez McCoy, Chief Francis Reardon and Mr. Walter Sheff.

From the Cooney Archives

News and Updates

View of the Mohawk Valley looking south towards Little Falls, NY.

Palatine Germans in Search of a Land to Call Home by Ginny Rogers

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January 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.

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Helen Dunteman

MISS HELEN DUNTEMAN

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Helen 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.

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Growing up on the South Side from the early 1950’s through the late 1960’s By Donald F. Staffo

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In 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.

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A Pizza Story by James Papaleo

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If 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.

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South Side Cigar Stores by Gary Staffo

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This 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.

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Industrialization in Little Falls, New York, 1790-1960

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The Little Falls Historical Society much appreciates the opportunity to work with the SUNY Oneonta’s Cooperstown Graduate Program of Museum Studies. Some background history about Little Falls will add perspective.

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Moose Club Basketball Team

Every Legend Has a Beginning The Hubie Brown Story by David Dinneen

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Older people in Little Falls, especially those sports fanatics, know who Hubie Brown is. However, the name may not be familiar with the younger folks. Hubie rose from the ranks of coaching basketball at St. Mary’s Academy in Little Falls to the apex of his profession, enshrinement in the National Basketball Hall of Fame.

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