HISTORICAL SOCIETY DUES HELP FINANCE SIGNS AND HISTORIC MARKERS

PART I OF 2

The official dedication ceremony for the Little Falls Historic Entry’s historic markers and related signage along East Main Street will take place sometime in early June. This ceremony will be written about in part two of this article. The purpose of this first article is to describe other signage and historical marker projects undertaken in recent years by the Little Falls Historical Society, either solely or in partnership with other individuals and community organizations.

Historical Signage

LOCATION:
SOUTH ANN STREET

Three South Ann Street signs related to the LITTLE FALLS CHEESE MARKET were originally put in place in the 1990s,funded through a New York State history grant. All three of these signs eventually became badly deteriorated, barely readable. The Historical Society funded replacement of the surface panels of these three signs over a period of several years.

• Sign #1 – THE WORLD’S BEST CHEESE
• Sign #2 – THE STREET CHEESE MARKET
• Sign #3 – THE CHEESE BUSINESS

The impressive granite marker with bronze plaque describing THE CHEESE MARKET OF THE NATION in front of the Old Bank Building Museum was dedicated in 1976 and funded by the Little Falls high school class of 1980.

Two other South Ann Street signs were also in deteriorated condition, one highlighting LITTLE FALLS BUILDINGS ANDSTREETS, NATURE AND PARKS, BRIDGES AND WATERWAYS and BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY and the other entitled SHAPING THE CITY – A FAMILY LEGACY highlights the BURRELL FAMILY’S long history of industrial and philanthropic contributions to our community. Thereplacement of the surface panels of these two signs was funded through the generosity of the Burrell and Wing families.

The New York State blue and yellow OLD BANK BUILDING MUSEUM historic marker put in place in 2022 was funded by the Kasner Family Foundation. This marker relates the history of the 1833 building, the first bank in Herkimer County.

LOCATION:
INTERSECTION OF WEST MILL AND ELIZABETH STREETS

The Historical Society also funded this historic marker several years ago. 1782 LITTLE FALLS GRISTMILL ATTACK marker provides a brief history of Little Falls’ first gristmill; the waterflow from what is now known as Furnace Street creek powered this commercial operation. Little Falls DPW workers carried out the placement of this marker.

LOCATION:
BURKE PARK AND WARD SQUARE

The green and white large size signs in Little Falls’ two main parks, BURKE PARK and WARD SQUARE, were funded by an anonymous Historical Society member in memory of his high school history teacher Ralph Van Horn. Other Historical Society members assisted with all phases of design and acquisition of these two signs which were put in place by City of Little Falls DPW employees.

LOCATION:
VARIOUS ENTRANCE POINTS INTO LITTLE FALLS

MYJAVA SISTER CITY SIGNAGE

The Myjava, Slovakia and Little Falls sister cities connection recognizes the approximately 1000 residents of that region who migrated to our community in the late-19th and early 20thcenturies. The Historical Society financed the purchase of green and white MYJAVA SISTER CITY signage and City DPW workers installed the signs at a number Little Falls entry points.Two Slovakian language sister city signs were also purchased by the Historical Society and shipped to the mayor of Myjava for installation in that community.

LOCATION:
ELIZABETH STREET OPPOSITE REDCO BRIDGE

WESTERN INLAND LOCK NAVIGATION CANAL / 1795 CANAL GUARD GATE

The guard gate that once controlled water flow into Little Falls’ first canal had original signage that had become unreadable. To replace this deteriorated sign, the Historical Society obtained a blue and black historic marker through a Pomeroy Foundation NYS Waterways grant. DPW workers installed this marker and Historical Society volunteers repaired and repainted the black railings around this marker.

The Historical Society and Little Falls Rotary partnered to finance the replacement of two 1795 CANAL signs near the blue and black historic marker. Society members worked with Bob Critser of DSP Images to create the verbiage, maps, and other graphics for these two signs.

LOCATION:
CHURCH STREET CEMETERY

Former city historian Edwin Vogt first drew Historical Society attention to the long-neglected African American Buriel Ground section of Church Street Cemetery. Working with Edwin, the Board of Public Works, and Burdick and Enea Monuments, the Historical Society financed the acquisition of an AFRICAN AMERICAN BURIAL GOUND MONUMENT that was put in place by DPW workers and then dedicated in a 2015 ceremony.

Additional plans are in the offing for designing, financing, and placing a sign listing the names of the 80 persons interred in this burial ground nearby the monument. There are only a few actual gravesite markers in this part of the cemetery.

Part II of this article will focus on the establishment of the LITTLE FALLS HISTORIC ENTRY. The four historic markers and two signs which are the centerpiece of this historic entry will be formally dedicated at a later date.

PLEASE NOTE: All but one of the historic markers written about in this article were manufactured by Catskill Castings located in Bloomville, N.Y. Most of the historic signage was created by Bob Critser of DSP Imaging in Herkimer, N.Y.

Jeffrey Gressler is a member of the Little Falls Historical Society.