Growing Up on the Southside 1957 – 1970
(By popular demand SATURDAY November 06, 2021 for the 1st FALL TOUR!)
WHEN: Saturday November 06, 2021
Sign In begins at 8AM (Registration, Questions, Safety Briefing), and the Tour STARTS at 9AM.
Allow 2 to 3 hours, but participants can leave at any time (Please inform Tour Guide when leaving).
PANDEMIC CONCERNS – This tour is outdoors with social distancing. We will adhere to all NYS and CDC guidelines in effect at the time of the event.
Other personal protective measures such as masks are optional based on your personal comfort.
Your Tour Guide has received the three Covid-19 Vaccination doses.
WHERE: Meet at the Rotary Park Terminal Building on Southern Ave by NLT 8:30 am. We will start on time. Parking and rest rooms are available at the Terminal. NO REST ROOMS ALONG THE TOUR!
Special Needs: The walk includes unpaved dirt paths, uneven surfaces, outdoors, etc.
Moderate to vigorous physical activity.
Pets: Please do not bring your pets, as we may encounter other “pets” that are not under owner command or on a leash.
REGISTRATION: Advance registration is requested and appreciated. Please register by phone or email.
If you have questions or concerns, contact Gary. Southside Territory Details list available upon request.
Gary T. Staffo
Phone: 703-336-7241
Email: 6226gardenroad@gmail.com
(NOTE: This is an independent event and is not an official program of the Little Falls Historical Society.)
A Pizza Story by James Papaleo
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumIf you lived in Little Falls in the late-1950s through early-1980s I bet you ate at least one slice of Papaleo’s pizza or one of the delicious hoagies (subs) that came out of the family restaurant owned by my parents Anthony (Tony) and Grayce Papaleo.
Even today, 40 years after the restaurant closed, people still tell me and my sisters how our Dad’s pizza and hoagies were the best they have ever eaten. I might be biased, but I agree because I have never found another pizza or hoagie like Dad’s.
South Side Cigar Stores by Gary Staffo
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThis article came about as part of the research started for the Southside Veteran’s Recognition Project, which was displayed during the September 2013 Southside Reunion. It covers the period from the 1930s through the mid-1970s and the role three Southside cigar stores played in the lives of the young men who grew up hanging out around them.
Industrialization in Little Falls, New York, 1790-1960
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThe Little Falls Historical Society much appreciates the opportunity to work with the SUNY Oneonta’s Cooperstown Graduate Program of Museum Studies. Some background history about Little Falls will add perspective.
Subtitle: A Cabinet of Curiosities by the Cooperstown Graduate Program
The City of Little Falls is a community of around 4700 residents situated in southern Herkimer County astride both the Mohawk River and the Erie Canal. Little Falls’ development and rich industrial history were impacted by geology and topography, particularly its waterside proximity.
The first inhabitants of the immediate area around Little Falls were members of the Iroquois Confederacy, primarily the Mohawks, one of the five tribes making up the Confederacy. The Mohawks were the keepers of the Eastern Gate of Iroquois territory. They called the area “Astenrogan” or “tumbling waters.”
The region’s first European visitors in the early 1600’s were Dutch and French traders and French Jesuit priests all in pursuit of favorable relations with Native Americans. The French first referred to the area as “little falls” to distinguish it from the “big falls” at Cohoes. In 1664, England seized New York from the Dutch
England used Palatine Germans in their upper Hudson Valley naval stores project; the Palatines eventually migrated into the central Mohawk Valley in the early 1700’s. Divided loyalties, largely based on ethnicity, characterized the entire region during the Revolutionary War.
The six lock Western Inland Lock Navigation Canal began operation in 1794 in order to make easier waterway passage around the Little Falls rapids. Little Falls was incorporated as a village in 1811. The Erie Canal was completed in 1825 and Little Falls began to thrive as the industrial hub of the central Mohawk Valley. Little Falls was later chartered as a city in 1895.
In 1833, the present Old Bank Museum, made of native rock and cut limestone, began operation as the first bank in Herkimer County. The building was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1970 and it is the present home of the Little Falls Historical Society.
Fast forward to 2018 when Dr. Erik Stengler resided in Little Falls with his family for a short period before taking up residence in Cooperstown. During his stay in Little Falls, Dr. Stengler became enamored with the community’s history. He was the first to conceptualize of Little Falls history as a potential area of study for his museum studies students. In 2019, Dr. Stengler reached out to the Historical Society to serve as an educational partner for his students.
The board of directors and officers of the Historical Society responded most favorably to this overture and this collaborative partnership was born and the byproduct of this collaboration is this book. Please enjoy this wonderful piece of work that has been generated by this fine group of students.
Jeff Gressler
Every Legend Has a Beginning The Hubie Brown Story by David Dinneen
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumOlder people in Little Falls, especially those sports fanatics, know who Hubie Brown is. However, the name may not be familiar with the younger folks. Hubie rose from the ranks of coaching basketball at St. Mary’s Academy in Little Falls to the apex of his profession, enshrinement in the National Basketball Hall of Fame.
Tour Guide, Organizer and Historical Society Member, Gary Staffo, has requested that the Little Falls Historical Society share the Southside Walking Tour VIII – 1st FALL Tour!
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumGrowing Up on the Southside 1957 – 1970
(By popular demand SATURDAY November 06, 2021 for the 1st FALL TOUR!)
WHEN: Saturday November 06, 2021
Sign In begins at 8AM (Registration, Questions, Safety Briefing), and the Tour STARTS at 9AM.
Allow 2 to 3 hours, but participants can leave at any time (Please inform Tour Guide when leaving).
PANDEMIC CONCERNS – This tour is outdoors with social distancing. We will adhere to all NYS and CDC guidelines in effect at the time of the event.
Other personal protective measures such as masks are optional based on your personal comfort.
Your Tour Guide has received the three Covid-19 Vaccination doses.
WHERE: Meet at the Rotary Park Terminal Building on Southern Ave by NLT 8:30 am. We will start on time. Parking and rest rooms are available at the Terminal. NO REST ROOMS ALONG THE TOUR!
Special Needs: The walk includes unpaved dirt paths, uneven surfaces, outdoors, etc.
Moderate to vigorous physical activity.
Pets: Please do not bring your pets, as we may encounter other “pets” that are not under owner command or on a leash.
REGISTRATION: Advance registration is requested and appreciated. Please register by phone or email.
If you have questions or concerns, contact Gary. Southside Territory Details list available upon request.
Gary T. Staffo
Phone: 703-336-7241
Email: 6226gardenroad@gmail.com
(NOTE: This is an independent event and is not an official program of the Little Falls Historical Society.)
Dairy Farming In Herkimer County: The More Things Change… by De Wayne W. Perry
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumDairy farming has been integral to life in Herkimer County since the first European settlers—the Palatine Germans—arrived in the Mohawk Valley in the early-1700s, and some of their descendants still operate dairies around Little Falls and elsewhere throughout the county.
The Magnificent Mile at Little Falls by Louis W. Baum, Jr.
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumWhen it comes right down to it, Little Falls is all about water. The earliest explorers in America found it easiest to move along the waterways and rivers as did the Native Americans living here. In the 1600s and 1700s the British colonies extended inward from the Atlantic Ocean to the Appalachian Mountains.
Burwell Street Namesake and Moreland Park Visionary
/by Little Falls Historical Society Museumby Jeffrey Gressler
Since 1911, Moreland Park has played an important role in community life for generations of Little Falls residents. Family picnics, group outings, community events and celebrations, wedding receptions, birthday and graduation parties, family and class reunions, and kids squealing with delight on the playground equipment are all common occurrences on the park’s bucolic grounds. We all have our own Moreland Park memories.
by Jeffrey Gressler
He Still Sustains: Pitt the Painter’s Studio Loft
/by Little Falls Historical Society Museumby Laura Laubenthal
From 2011 to 2013, I wrote my master’s degree thesis for the Cooperstown Graduate Program about “Pitt the Painter” and his role in showcasing the identity of Little Falls by means of his artwork. The project was largely based on oral histories told by those in town who remembered him since his death on September 4, 2007. While I spoke with several people, there were so many more I did not reach, as Pitt’s sphere of influence seemed immeasurable. The project went on, and it was apparent that these stories meshed together as modern-day folklore about talent, humor, addiction, and belonging.
by Laura Laubenthal
A FAN’S NOTES ON THE RETURN OF VINTAGE BASE BALL TO LITTLE FALLS
/by Little Falls Historical Society MuseumThis author admits upfront that he is both a local history nut and a diehard New York Yankees fan. The intertwined paths of baseball and American history resonate with me. Older readers of this piece will likely recall watching Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and the transformational impact of Jackie Robinson. This author’s baseball roots trace to Willie Mays, Duke Snyder and Mickey Mantle, ah, The Mick, my favorite. I grew up assuming that the Yankees would always play in the World Series each year.
2021 Canal Days Celebration included the return of vintage base ball to Little Falls in the form of a three-team, three-game, round-robin tournament. The newly formed Little Falls Alerts competed against the Catskill area Bovina Dairymen and the Mountain Athletic Club, all retrieved names from the earliest days of American baseball. 1860’s, 1880’s and 1890’s era base ball game rules were in place at different times during the three games.
Early era Little Falls base ball teams included the Rough and Readys and the Pastimes in the 1860’s, the Excelsiors in the 1870’s and the Rocktons and the Alerts in the 1880’s – 90’s. The Alerts took the field in the north end of Ward Square in the 1880’s-90’s for most of their games. Games were heavily attended.
I watched most of the first game between the Alerts and the Bovina Dairymen and the entire third game between the local nine and the Mountain Athletic Club. I was not present for the second game between the two Catskill region teams.
Authenticity, gentlemanly conduct, high-spirited competitiveness and inter-team camaraderie graced the daylong tournament. The local nine may have lost both of their games to the longer-established downstate teams, but their athleticism and baseball acumen were in evidence throughout; an important foothold was re-established and another Little Falls tradition has been reborn. Vintage base ball is back in Little Falls after a long hiatus. The new Alerts will now carry forward our vintage base ball banner. Three cheers for the Alerts!
Vintage base ball both resembles and differs from our modern national pastime. The players do not wear ball gloves, hit balls caught on the first bounce are still outs; the difference in rules is too complex to be fully captured in this piece. Vintage base ball equipment, including bats, balls and catcher’s gear is also quite different.
The Little Falls Historical Society has provided financial sponsorship for the Alerts, including the purchase of four high-quality bats hand-turned to perfection by local craftsman Ian Giudilli who labeled each bat “made in Little Falls” and “Rough and Ready.”
In conclusion, Little Falls vintage base ball is back and being roundly embraced by a talented group of local athletes eager to call themselves Alerts. The Little Falls Historical Society and the Little Falls Family and Youth Center have partnered to back the Alerts and the City is eager to provide the ballfields for games. Hopefully, Canal Days Celebrations will feature an annual vintage base ball tournament. Long live the Little Falls Alerts!