Little Falls Historical Society Museum Events
This day in history: May 6
1849
On this day, John Splan was born in Little Falls, and by the age of seven “had a fair notion of a horse.” He hung around local stables and race tracks and ran away from home at a young age. Splan became a very early pioneer in the sport of trotters and became famous throughout the country in racing circles. Many of the training techniques he developed are still in use today.
1916
Men who were engaged in work on the new Grace block on William Street came upon 500 pennies which had been stowed away in the ancient structure for many long years. Some of the pennies dated back as far as 1811 and were of the large sized variety.
This day in history: May 7
1832
An ordinance was passed to change the name Telegraph Street to Mohawk Street and President Street to Jefferson Street.
1900
Mr. and Mrs. George Sanborn, of Utica, visited Little Falls today in the locomobile, a very neat horseless carriage, of the gasoline variety. Its adaptability for climbing our steep streets was shown by a run up Church and Prospect streets.
1918
Pickpockets, operating at the Hippodrome, Gem Theatre, and other public gathering places, have met with much success in the city. Wallets, purses, and watches all have been lifted.
1971
The Little Falls Citizens’ Advisory Committee proposes that the mayor appoint the library trustees.
This day in history: May 8
1796
Mr. Bethune Dodd was appointed by the Presbytery to preach at the Octagon Church. The previous evening, he stayed at the home of John Porteous.
1895
The cannon boomed and the headlines declared “LITTLE FALLS IS A CITY AT LAST” as the New York state legislature approved the charter for the village to become a city. Objections had been made for decades by the three towns from which the city was carved, Manheim, Danube, and Little Falls, because of the loss of tax revenue.
1936
The newly formed Birgir Inc. on West Mill planned to manufacture high-grade caskets and sectional bookcases. Birgir Lundstrom heads the company.
1942
WW II Era – 9,825 sugar ration books were issued, on 10,298 applications, at the four registration centers in the elementary schools of the city.
2004
Because of declining membership, Masonic Lodge No. 181 F&AM of Little Falls will meet no more. It has merged with Lodge No. 796 of Dolgeville. At one time the local lodge had over 350 members and another 173 ladies who belonged to the Order of the Eastern Star. In existence in Little Falls for over 150 years, its last meeting was in December 2003.
This day in history: May 9
1884
Hours were set for the public library which is located in the Chronkhite opera house block.
1892
“The Jewelers Weekly” has mentioned J. H. H. Vosburgh’s remarkable collection of quartz crystals. The Little Falls man has a collection of more than 60,000 “diamonds” found within one mile of the village. This is one of the most unique and interesting collections of small crystals in the world. (Note: Mr. Vosburgh’s collection is on display at Colgate University.)
1903
The South Side Union Church, a handsome structure conceived and constructed under the practical well doing of David H. Burrell, Sr. was dedicated. The first pastor is Dr. J. L. Humphrey who returned to Little Falls from missionary work in India.
1930
In a light turnout, voters in the city approved two bonding propositions for executing public work to offset the slack industrial period and help reduce unemployment in the area. One was for paving Southern Avenue, and the second was for improvements at Church Street cemetery.
1952
Loomis Burrell, chairman of the board of Cherry-Burwell Corp., was honored by Cornell University for outstanding contributions to the dairy industry.
From the Cooney Archives
Eagle Down by John Frazier
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumDonnie Coffin was somewhat of an enigma. Those who remember him recall him as an easygoing guy, but not many people have vivid memories of him.
Little Falls Philanthropy by Louis W. Baum
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumWhat did wealthy people do with their money? Some spent lavishly on themselves and their families caring little for their fellow man; others were philanthropic. Over the years, the citizens of Little Falls have greatly benefited in many different ways from the philanthropy of several of its leading residents who lived here in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Bygone Little Falls winters of skiing and sledding by Jeffrey Gressler
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumDecades before there was a Pine Ridge ski center in Salisbury or a Shu-maker Mountain ski area outside Little Falls, generations of Little Falls winter sports enthusiasts skied and sledded down the vertical drops that typify our steep, narrow Mohawk Valley topography.
Help keep community history alive this Christmas
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumAs the holidays are upon us, the Little Falls Historical Society would like you to consider giving loved ones and friends copies of the great book BEYOND OUR BICENTENNIAL as Christmas gifts.
The Little Falls Historical Society Honors our Nation’s Veterans
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThe Little Falls Historical Museum would like to honor all US Military Veterans for Veteran’s Day, November 11, 2022.
1882: The Year of Pestilence, Death and Solutions in Little Falls by David Krutz
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThe summer of 1882 was a bad time to be an inhabitant of Little Falls as sickness and death raged throughout the village. In those few months, an estimated sixty people died, with hundreds more sickened – over half of the deaths were of infants and adolescents. Cholera, typhoid fever and “brain congestion”, at the time often lumped together as “malarial disease”, were the culprits. Victims of cholera suffered severe cases of diarrhea and subsequent dehydration, with death sometimes occurring within hours or a few days from the onset of symptoms.
Those Were The Days by John Frazier
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumSt. Mary’s Parish (now Holy Family Parish) had a new priest, and this was his first assignment out of the seminary. He was young, he was friendly, he had an easy smile, most of the girls liked him because he was good looking, and the boys liked him because if there was a basketball game going on, he liked to take off his collar and join the game.