Little Falls Historical Society Museum Events
This day in history: November 20
1873
The big steam fire whistle, bought by the Board, has been located on the Mohawk Mills (Old Stone Mill.)
1896
Five shares of Little Falls National Bank stock were sold at auction ($800 per share) and ten shares of National Herkimer County Bank stock ($850 per share) from the estate of Jonathan Beattie. The prices show the high standing of our local banks.
This day in history: November 21
1921
Bootleggers, using three powerful automobiles, made a valuable haul of nearly one hundred cases of wines and liquors, with a monetary worth of $10,000, from the home of L. O. Bucklin on North William Street.
1931
State Highway Commissioner A. W. Brandt rebuffed Little Falls’ request to build Route 5S over Lovers’ Leap through the city’s south side “when it cannot take care of the notorious River Road” which he deemed as one of the most disgraceful stretches he knows of for a main line road.
2014
A fire of major proportions was adverted at historic St. Mary’s church when a young man walking his dog at 11:30 pm alerted the Little Falls fire department of a fire in progress. Several area fire departments responded, and the fire was confined to a storage room. The church itself only had smoke and water damage.
This day in history: November 22
1832
We are happy to announce that the stone bridge across the Mohawk River is completed. It reflects to great credit the mechanical skills of Robert Stewart and Captain William Chase.
1902
The cornerstone of the Bethel Mission Chapel on the south side of the city was placed today. The construction is being paid for by David H. Burrell, head of the great Burrell & Co. industries, on a lot donated by William Milligan, the venerable retired president of the National Herkimer County Bank.
1920
The Women’s Christian Association (W.C.A.) was formally opened, before a crowd of over 500, for the use of women and girls of Little Falls. It was affectionately dedicated to the memory of Anne Louise Burrell who was a pioneer in work for the higher interests of girls and women. Visitors were escorted through the building by the Girl Scouts.
2013
Little Falls resident Mary Woodward Pillsworth was an eye witness to history. Fifty years ago today, Mary, a women’s news reporter for the Dallas Morning News was directly in front of the Texas School Book Depository when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. She is considered the fifth closest witness to the assignation, and can be seen in the Zapruder film.
From the Cooney Archives
AN ELEPHANT NAMED BIMBO AND A FUNERAL by Darlene Smith
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumMost people usually don’t have an elephant attend a family member’s funeral, but then most other families didn’t have a grandfather who loved the circus the way Milo Smith did.
CITY AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY CONTINUE EFFORTS TO RECOGNIZE AFRICAN AMERICAN BURIAL GROUND
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumIt all began sometime in the early-2000s in the mind and heart of deceased former City Historian Edwin Vogt.
“Bellcamp” The Magician by Ann E. Schuyler
/by Little Falls Historical Society Museum“Uncle Archie, can you make me disappear?” I asked. “Yes,” he said, “Go in the other room.” I was expecting something like levitation.
My First and Last Train Rides by Ann Eysaman Schuyler
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumIn 1944 I took my first train ride – all the way to Utica, NY. Having lived in Little Falls all my life, some of it on West Main Street at the foot of Glen Avenue, I knew about the railroad.
LOCAL AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY REFLECTED STATE AND NATIONAL EVENTS
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThe primary purpose of this piece of writing is to chronicle a history of African American presence in Little Falls from the time of slavery up to the 2015 dedication of a monument in Little Falls Church Street Cemetery recognizing what was once known as the “Colored Burial Ground.”
The Underground Railroad In And Around Little Falls
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThe Underground Railroad (URR) was a loosely organized network of people, (men and women, African American and white,) dedicated to helping people escape from bondage in the slave-holding states of the South to freedom in the antislavery states of the North and ultimately to Canada in the period before the Civil War.
MEMORIAL SERVICE NOTICE FOR ARTHUR WITHINGTON
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThere will be a Memorial Service for former Little Falls native Annette (Eysaman) Withington’s husband, Arthur, on July 22, 2023, 11am, at the Cornerstone Plymouth Bethesda Church in Utica.