Little Falls Historical Society Museum Events

  • This day in history: October 11

    1860

    A ”monster” parade was held in Little Falls, with several bands and two thousand men in uniform all carrying torches. The parade was organized by Republicans to further the efforts to elect Lincoln president.

    1874

    Little Falls progresses. There were five drunken fights in the village last night.

    1890

    A young bride, married two weeks ago without her farmer father’s consent, was torn from the arms of her husband in front of the Cowen shop. As she attempted to rejoin her husband, she was “picked up like a sack of flour” by her irate father, thrown into a buggy and driven out of the village at a rapid pace.

    1952

    Headline read: Registration Well Ahead of 1944 and 1948. Three-Day total Here Far Above Four Years Ago”

    The intensive community wide campaign to get out the vote is producing splendid results. When the eight registration places in the city closed at 10 o’clock last night, the names of 4,303 voters had been entered on the books. The total is 1.026 higher than the three-day figure for the last comparable year…”

    1962

    It was announced that the Little Falls Felt Shoe Company will cease operations at the local plant, and by the end of this year will consolidate all its factory work at the St. Johnsville plant.

    2012

    William Moynihan, Little Falls native and St. Mary’s Academy graduate, has passed away. Earning degrees from SUNY Binghamton, Colgate, and Syracuse (Ph.D.), Bill had leadership positions at Colgate, was director of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and lastly as CEO of the Milwaukee Public Museum. He was buried in Hamilton, N.Y.

From the Cooney Archives

News and Updates

Jan Holick taken at Caroga Lake Photo Booth.

“Surviving Childhood in Little Falls” by Cynthia Holick Foley

When asked if I had any siblings, I often quipped, “My brother and I were only children.” While my first decade was spent in the peaceful and prosperous 1950s, his was spent just prior and during World War II. Recently my big brother, Jan Holick Sr., (born 1935, and graduated from Little Falls High School 1953,) sat down with me, (born 1951, and graduated 1969,) and shared his memories of a time I never knew except in history books. He was kind enough to open a window to his past, and this article invites you to share that view.

UPDATED HISTORICAL SOCIETY CANAL DAYS CELEBRATION EVENTS SCHEDULE

The recent uptick in COVID-19 cases in Herkimer County has forced our board directors and officers to rethink our Canal Days Celebration calendar of events and museum operation. Foremost in our thinking is public safety. We regret any inconveniences that these adjustments may cause. The CHURCH STREET CEMETERY TOUR was scheduled for Friday August 13 […]

Long Ago From a Far Away Land by Jessie Snyder Thompson Huberty

In February of 1935, while snow fell heavily over Herkimer County in upstate New York, a cable arrived at the home of The Honorable Homer P. Snyder on Ann Street in Little Falls. It announced the birth of H.P.’s first great grandchild. It read: “Mother and child doing fine. Father barely survived!” Thus, I arrived amidst tropical breezes in the city of Manila, on the island of Luzon, in the Philippines, set between the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Manila: 8324 miles away from the city on the Mohawk River.

Bushnell monument

HISTORICAL SOCIETY CANCELLING CEMETERY WALKING TOUR AND HISTORIC MARKER DEDICATIONS

Most Little Falls residents know who Nathaniel Benton, H.P. Snyder, and D.H. Burrell were, but who were Enoch Moore, Arphaxed Loomis, Titus Sheard, and Peewash and how did each of these individuals impact community history? What do gravestones with weeping angels, shrouded urns, and tree stumps represent? What interesting life stories are hidden away in […]

John Frazier – Prisoner of War, Hero by John Frazier, Jr.

Personal and societal beliefs and principles certainly change with time. Sometimes people are shocked or amazed to hear stories of people or events from the past, yet these tales may not be so difficult to comprehend if we’re able to empathize, and put ourselves back into that situation and moment in history.

The Little Falls Lock 17 Dedication Celebration of 1916 by Angela Harris

“Will Go Down in History: Historical Pageant and Lift Lock Celebration Greatest Ever Held in Mohawk Valley. July 4, 1916” The Little Falls Journal and Courier may be forgiven for the hyperbole of its banner headline and sub heading on July 4, 1916. The overflowing pride of the language reflects the premise and themes of The Little Falls Historical Pageant and Lift Lock Celebration. The civic pageants of the first twenty years of the 20th century were testaments to civic pride and patriotism, and Little Falls was no slacker.

Little Falls Historical Society Museum | Little Falls NY

LITTLE FALLS HISTORICAL SOCIETY TO ACCEPT MUSEUM VISIT APPOINTMENTS

The Old Bank Building Museum has not been open to the public since Christmas in Little Falls in December 2019, a year and a half ago. Somehow it seems even longer ago than that. This is about to change. The museum has a number of new exhibits since 2019, most notably, the centennial exhibit celebrating […]