Mohawk Valley History

Writing Series

Read articles written by historians from throughout the Mohawk Valley region. Contact us if you have a story idea or local historian that you would like to see published in our writing series.

Little Falls Philanthropy by Louis W. Baum

What did wealthy people do with their money? Some spent lavishly on themselves and their families caring little for their fellow man; others were philanthropic. Over the years, the citizens of Little Falls have greatly benefited in many different ways from the philanthropy of several of its leading residents who lived here in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Bygone Little Falls winters of skiing and sledding by Jeffrey Gressler

Decades before there was a Pine Ridge ski center in Salisbury or a Shu-maker Mountain ski area outside Little Falls, generations of Little Falls winter sports enthusiasts skied and sledded down the vertical drops that typify our steep, narrow Mohawk Valley topography. Others enjoyed skating on the frozen canal and ice rinks. Times were different in the age before television and computers provided time diversions and snowmobiles proved to be so popular.

US submarine chasers stop in Little Falls

From the Cooney Archives: On December 17, 1917, A good number of recently built US submarine chasers, moving down the canal, stopped in Little Falls on their way to New York City.

A visit to the Fort Plain Museum and Historical Park

This week MVEDD visited the Fort Plain Museum and Historical Park to learn about the exhibits along with their vision for the future.

Re-Thinking Thanksgiving: A Native American Perspective on an American Holiday at The Farmers’ Museum

Re-Thinking Thanksgiving: A Native American Perspective on an American Holiday on Saturday, November 26 • 2:00–3:30pm at The Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown

Mohawks and the Dutch in the Mohawk Valley

View a video from the Friends of the Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site featuring historian and scholar, Paul Gorgen, as he takes a close look at the relations between the Mohawk People and the Dutch settlers in the Mohawk Valley.

1882: The Year of Pestilence, Death and Solutions in Little Falls

The summer of 1882 was a bad time to be an inhabitant of Little Falls as sickness and death raged throughout the village.

400 Local Veterans Honored at Oneida Indian Nation

On November 1, more than 400 Local Veterans Honored at Oneida Indian Nation’s Annual Veterans Recognition Event at Turning Stone Resort Casino