June 19th Little Falls Historic Entry Dedication Ceremony

Over five years in the planning and execution stages, the LITTLE FALLS HISTORIC ENTRY will be formally dedicated at a ceremony on East Main Street at the bottom of Ward Square at 10:00 AM on June 19th.

Most incoming west bound traffic has traditionally exited Route 5 on South Ann Street to enter the City of Little Falls, thereby missing many of the City’s finest historic buildings. The goal of the soon-to-be dedicated Little Falls Historic Entry is to entice more drivers to exit Route 5 onto East Main Street to view a number of beautiful buildings and monuments along with Ward Square itself.

A second goal of this historic entry project is to route more traffic through the main Little Falls commercial district.

At the midpoint between Wind Bridge and the East Main Street stop light on the north side of Route 5, a HISTORIC ENTRY SIGN WITH ARROW was put in place last August. Most drivers who are intrigued by this sign and do turn right at the first stop light onto East Main Street are curious about what historic buildings and sites that they will be able to learn about.

The CONFIRMATION SIGN at the bottom of Ward Square highlights the six buildings and one historic site that are part of this historic entry. This sign’s QR code reader takes the viewer to a virtual interactive map of Little Falls’ most important historic sites and buildings.

Highlights of the Historic Entry include Benton Hall Academy, St. Mary’s Church Complex, the Richard Ray Ward House, Little Falls Public Library, the Loomis Burrell Home, City Hall, the Historical Society’s Old Bank Building Museum, and the African American Burial Ground section of Church Street Cemetery.

SUNY Oneonta Cooperstown Museum Studies Graduate Program students, instructed by Dr. Erik Stengler, contributed valuable assistance for this historic entry project. These students provided both important research and audio narration.

Nearby historic monuments include the World War I monument in front of the former St. Mary’s Academy, the Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address monument, an array of military veterans’ monuments, and the Civil War soldier statue / monument which are all located in Ward Square.

Little Falls has a rich history and many beautiful historic buildings that continue to draw tourists to our community. This historic entry highlights much of this history and these buildings.

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