Little Falls Historical Society Museum Events
This day in history: November 8
1901
A good start for better streets made this week in Little Falls as paving some of the main thoroughfares with bricks has been started. The first street to be completed was from the railroad tracks to the Mohawk River bridge on South Ann Street.
1918
Leslie Bride has been twice wounded in action in France and is currently in a Red Cross hospital. After capturing an enemy trench, a grenade with a time fuse exploded and shattered his legs. Several of his comrades were killed.
2006
The Italian Community Bake Oven, on the outskirts of Little Falls, built around 1891 by Italian immigrant laborers near their work camp, who were building the Little Falls – Dolgeville Railroad, was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Hundreds of loaves of bread were baked each day. The oven was 16 feet wide, 20 feet deep, and 6 feet high.
This day in history: November 9
1908
The I.O.O.F. Temple (“Odd Fellows”) opened on South William Street. It was the home of the Hippodrome Theatre movie house.
1914
The Board of Fire & Police purchased an Overland car for the fire chief. This was the first motor driven apparatus in the city. It carried two pyrene and two acid soda extinguishers.
1933
Mrs. Katherine S. Goodbread, of Little Falls, passed away at age 93. As a young lady, she joined the Nurses’ corps and served in the Civil War. Her passing brings to an end the 121st regiment of nurses, of which she was the last survivor.
This day in history: November 10
1831
Abijah Mann and his son of Fairfield were crossing the Ann Street bridge over the Mohawk River, when a herd of 90 oxen were driven on it and the structure collapsed. The men were saved by clinging to the tails of the oxen as they swam downstream
1871
The new organized Band was out for the first time and gave a concert in front of the Cottage Hotel of P. J. Casler.
1894
Dr. Stephen A. Ingham, assisted by Drs. Gildman, Garlock, and Douglas, performed the first appendectomy at the Little Falls hospital. The operation was entirely successful and was concluded without any sign of difficulty or uncertainty. The patient, Miss Emma Shear, is having a remarkable recovery.
1900
The Charity Ball, held on the second floor of the new Robert MacKinnon Mill, made thousands with the proceeds going to the Little Falls Hospital. Besides being a great financial success it was an important social event. Rath’s orchestra of Utica provided the dance music. After 11 o’clock a sumptuous supper was served on the third floor. MacKinnon paid all expenses.
1903
Little Falls native, Admiral Lester Anthony Beardslee, died this evening in Maine. A graduate of the Naval Academy, he participated in the Civil War, was Commander-in-Chief of the naval forces in the Pacific, and served under Commodore Perry in Japan.
1928
Phil Darling opened a Chevrolet dealership at the northeast corner of Albany and Mary streets in a building he had erected. The grand opening featured an orchestra. When World War II shut off the supply of autos, he closed his garage and sold the building to the American Store markets.
2013
Legendary Little Falls High School baseball coach Ted Schoff was inducted in the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame at ceremonies at the Hilton Hotel in Troy. Over a 31 year coaching career, Schoff’s Mounties won 533 games, several league and 1sectional championships, and a state title in 1982.
This day in history: November 11
1918
The Cronkhite Opera House on the corner of South Ann and West Main streets burned.
1975
Loomis Burrell, son of David H. Burrell, husband of Louisa Loomis Burrell, died at his home at 659 East Main Street at age 103. Following in his father’s footsteps, he greatly improved dairy machinery, the efficiency of milk processing, and safety in the industry. He was the first Board Chairman of Cherry-Burrell.
1993
The center span of the Little Falls Aqueduct stood for 171 years; it finally collapsed late this evening. It had been more than a century since the last maintenance was conducted on it, a testimony of both the fitness of the original design and the skill of the workmen who built it. The aqueduct was built in 1822 as a feeder from the Western Inland Lock Navigation Canal.
“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 […]