Little Falls Historical Society Museum Events
This day in history: June 17
1890
Under the name “Talaquega Tribe,” a branch of the Improved Order of Red Men was organized in this village with 39 charter members. Its name is taken from an old Indian name in this locality.
1902
The Interstate Telephone Co. reported that there were 340 telephones in use in Little Falls with the number growing.
1910
“The City Theatre” is the name which Reardon & Shults have decided that Skinner Opera House will be hereafter known.
This day in history: June 18
1844
A ratification meeting was held at Washington Hall on South Ann Street for James K. Polk and George Dallas. Polk was to be elected as the eleventh president of the United States, and during his term of office the territory of the country expanded significantly with the annexation of the Republic of Texas, the Oregon Territory, and the Mexican Cession.
1887
A blast on Moss Island threw a rock weighing 9 ½ lbs. across the river and through the roof of the E. B. Waite’s paper mill. The rock struck with such force as to break a 3 x 6 rafter in the roof.
1890
Between fifteen hundred and two thousand people gathered at Eastern Park to enjoy the first band concert of the season. The band played a number of selections in first-class style.
1895
A private driveway has been made through the Lansing property, which connects Church and Lansing streets.
1896
The steamboat, Titus Sheard, with sixteen aboard, left Little Falls at 1:20 PM for the short voyage to Taylor Driving Park with Van Buren Young at the helm. As it neared the park, the steam engine exploded killing Young and ten others. Heroic efforts by park patrons saved five others including Miss Rhonda Warren who graduated from the local high school later that week.
1923
Photographs of Little Falls were taken from the air by the Fairchild Aerial Corporation if New York as the machine circled twice around the city. The photos will be used for marketing purposes.
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.
Sometimes Distributing Vaccines Easier Said Than Done by Schuyler Van Horn
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumWith all the buzz about COVID-19 vaccines, it brought back memories of vaccines administered when I was in Vietnam in 1971-72. I was not a Medic but an intelligence officer stationed in a remote place named An Loc. Not far from the Cambodian border, 70 miles north of Saigon, straddling Route 13 (Thunder Road), I was one of 32 Americans in MACV advisor team 47, next to 2,000 ARVN (Army of the Republic of Viet Nam).
Hector Allen by David Krutz
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumTo anyone who walked the halls of Little Falls High School in the 1960’s, 70’s, 80’s and even into the 1990’s Hector Allen was a familiar and respected figure.
Hector taught “Social Studies” – New York State, United States and World History – at LFHS for 34 years.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumUsing a treasure trove at the Little Falls Historical Society Museum, Louie Baum toiled for months creating an over 200-page document to chronicle the historic past of Little Falls.
OLD BANK BUILDING REACHES A MILESTONE
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumPhoto submitted – National Herkimer County Bank and Presbyterian Church in the background – (Kinney Plaza) circa 1860. by Pat Frezza-Gressler, member of the Little Falls Historical Society Constructed of native stone in 1833 as the first bank in Herkimer County and placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1970, the Little Falls […]
HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND SUNY ONEONTA COLLABORATION
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThis article is more about the future than the past. Although 2020 will be remembered for the succession of crises that changed our lives in many ways, for the members of the Little Falls Historical Society, a group of six students from SUNY Oneonta’s Cooperstown Graduate Program of Museum Studies and their professor, this year […]
Expatriate hopes generosity will inspire others
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumLittle Falls native Blaise Carrig (LFHS class of 1969) and his wife Leslie donated $50,000 earlier this year to six Little Falls non-profit organizations. The Carrigs responded to a series of questions for this article from their home in Longmont, Colorado. “We make a living by what we get but we make a life by […]
HISTORICAL SOCIETY PROJECT SOLICITING COVID-19 RELATED SUBMISSIONS
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThe Little Falls Historical Society has added a Making History Today repository page to our website This new page is for the purpose of collecting residents’ input and creating a body of work that will help future generations better understand how the greater Little Falls community has been impacted by the pandemic. Society members, local […]