Little Falls Historical Society Museum Events
This day in history: July 26
1848
Village Trustees contracted with J. Clark Company of Cazenovia for a town clock for $250. It was to be placed in a church designated by the trustees. The clock was to run without winding for eight days, and strike loud enough to be heard two miles away.
1895
The Alumni Association of the Little Falls Academy raised money for the library. The subscription netted over $1,000 and the Regents Department added $500 for the fund.
This day in history: July 27
1802
From the diary of Rev. John Taylor of Deerfield Massachusetts: “… a small village, called Little Falls, by which the canals built in 1795 containing six locks pass. The village is built upon a ledge of rock and promises to be a place of business as to trade. They have a new and beautiful meeting-house, standing 40 rods back on the hill, built in the form of an octagon. The appearance of the falls is sublime.”
1854
Sanford’s Minstrels were at the Temperance Hall Admission 25 cents.
1885
Farmers who were selling their cheese on Albany Street were ordered off the street by Sheriff Abbott after a couple of residents claimed their teams were a nuisance. After the sellers threatened to go to Utica, better accommodations were found for them on Bridge Street.
1998
Six bicyclists making a 3,741, seven week trip across the country from San Francisco, Califiornia to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, stopped today in Little Falls – the 3,445 mile marker. The group is making the ride in support of Habitat for Humanity
This day in history: July 28
1892
A public spirited citizen, Mr. P. W. Casler, having watched hundreds of boys swimming in the river from the point of Hansen Island, has generously donated some bath houses to be located there. In the name of decency and cleanliness, a small fee might be charged for the use of bathing suits and towels.
1895
It is said that Little Falls has more pneumatic tired carriages than any other place of even double its size in this section of the state.
1921
A grateful community turned out at St. Mary’s church for the funeral of Deloir A. Marco, the first of its boys to make the supreme sacrifice on the battlefields of France, and the first whose body was brought home to its final resting place.
This day in history: July 29
1913
Stones, undoubtedly the walls of the 1796 Octagon Church, were unearthed by workmen employed on a drainage and heating system project for the Church Street School.
1923
The Italian Roman Catholics in Little Falls now have their own parish. The wood-framed church at the northeast corner of East John and South Mary streets was opened today under the leadership of Rev. Anthony Spina.
“Surviving Childhood in Little Falls” by Cynthia Holick Foley
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumWhen 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
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThe 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
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumIn 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.
HISTORICAL SOCIETY CANCELLING CEMETERY WALKING TOUR AND HISTORIC MARKER DEDICATIONS
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumMost 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.
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumPersonal 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
/by Little Falls Historical Society Museum“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 TO ACCEPT MUSEUM VISIT APPOINTMENTS
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThe 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 […]