Beyond Our Bicentennial (Little Falls Historical Society, 2023) is a compilation of seventy-seven articles authored by thirty-nine different Little Falls residents past and present. It is dedicated to two groups of individuals, the founding members of the Historical Society and all Little Falls military veterans. [Read more…] about A New Little Falls History Book: Beyond Our Bicentennial
Little Falls
New York’s Forgotten Aeronaut & Diver: William Warren Rulison
When seventy-eight-year-old William Rulison passed away in August of 1931, the only newspaper in Upstate New York that carried the news was Cooperstown’s Otsego Farmer. In this obituary, he was noted only as a “pioneer in balloon flying in this part of the country,” and a man who went by the title of Professor. This report of his passing left much untold, and in the material that follows I hope to give a complete account of his full and varied life. [Read more…] about New York’s Forgotten Aeronaut & Diver: William Warren Rulison
Aeronaut Carlotta Myers In The Clouds Over Saratoga
It was a quiet September afternoon at Saratoga Springs’ Grand Union Hotel, with families and small groups gathering to relax and be seen by Saratoga’s high society. As the clock struck 4:30, a hush fell over the hotel’s piazza and every eye was drawn across Broadway to Congress Spring Park where a huge net shrouded sphere slowly rose above the trees.
When the giant ball had cleared the treetops, hanging below it was a small figure standing suspended in an open wire cage waving a handkerchief to the onlookers below. The crowd that day in 1884 witnessed a gas-filled balloon ascension by female aeronaut Carlotta Myers. [Read more…] about Aeronaut Carlotta Myers In The Clouds Over Saratoga
In Little Falls, An Old Bank Building Survives and Thrives
The wisdom of historic preservation has not always been a given. The desire by some to preserve old buildings and places is at times pitted against those who would rather “start over” with new construction.
In the early 1970s many residents of Little Falls, Herkimer County, NY wanted to tear down the old Herkimer County Bank, the county’s first. Some hoped it was be transformed into a parking lot, while a handful of preservationists fought to preserve the Greek Revival architectural treasure and a community resource. [Read more…] about In Little Falls, An Old Bank Building Survives and Thrives
3,300 Acres Protected Along East Canada Creek Tributary
The Open Space Institute (OSI) has announced the permanent protection of more than 3,300 acres in the Herkimer County towns of Salisbury and Norway. The tract is comprised of hardwood and softwood forests and significant wetlands within the Mohawk River watershed.
OSI purchased the Spruce Creek property for $3 million from Datum 9 Forestry LLC. [Read more…] about 3,300 Acres Protected Along East Canada Creek Tributary
George Lunn: The 1912 Socialist Victory in Schenectady
Schenectady County Historian Bill Buell’s new book George Lunn: The 1912 Socialist Victory in Schenectady (The Troy Book Makers, 2019) looks back at Schenectady native George Lunn, and his life in politics.
An Iowa native, George Lunn came to Schenectady in 1904 to become senior pastor at the First Reformed Church in the city’s Stockade Neighborhood. He entered politics in 1911 and was elected mayor of Schenectady as a member of the Socialist Party of America. [Read more…] about George Lunn: The 1912 Socialist Victory in Schenectady
Indian Castle Church 250th Anniversary Celebration Set
Historic Indian Castle Church is set to celebrate its 250th anniversary with a variety of activities on June 14th through 16th at its 109 Dillenbeck Road location in Little Falls, NY.
The Indian Castle church was erected in 1769 by Sir William Johnson on land donated by siblings Joseph and Molly Brant, two prominent Mohawk in their village of Canajoharie, located on the south side of the Mohawk River. [Read more…] about Indian Castle Church 250th Anniversary Celebration Set
Little Falls’ Lock 17: An Engineering Marvel
The Little Falls Journal and Courier proclaimed in a banner headline on their July 4th, 1916 edition that the celebration for the completion of Lock 17 “will go down in history.”
The paper stated that the pageantry and parades of the previous Friday and Saturday were a tremendous success. “Nothing so elaborate, so gorgeous, so successful from an historic, an artistic and idealistic point of view was ever before undertaken in this city… The crowd on Friday was conservatively estimated at four thousand and on Saturday it was as large or larger.”
Featured throughout the festivities were the recently arrived immigrant communities, the “New Americans” that Governor Whitman especially recognized in his remarks that Friday. [Read more…] about Little Falls’ Lock 17: An Engineering Marvel