From Little Falls Times: Octagon Church monument rededicated 100 years later
Little Falls, N.Y. — The first church erected in the city of Little Falls was the Octagon Church, built on the hill in the area of Church and School streets.
There is a memorial near the location today, placed by members of the Astenrogen Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution on Sept. 5, 1911.
The dedication of the stone and bronze tablet monument was part of an event referred to as “Old Home Week” and the centennial celebration of Little Falls.
One hundred years later, the rededication of the Octagon Church monument was part of the city’s bicentennial celebration.
“A good number of people don’t know the monument is here or what it’s for. Most people just pass by this location without taking a moment to stop and look,” chapter Regent Elizabeth Mosher said Monday morning. “Hopefully, this ceremony and rededication will call a little more attention to the monument and the history behind it.”
The Octagon Church, erected in 1796, was used by many denominations until they built churches of their own.
“The denominations who worshipped there didn’t always get along, but for the most part they made it work,” said chapter Secretary Nancy Cioch. “It must have been something to see, as one denomination would use the church in the morning, another in the afternoon and a third in the evening. Each denomination could hire their own preacher.”
Reading from notes she compiled during Monday’s rededication ceremony, Cioch said the church was first known as the Octagon Church because it was an eight-sided building. The building, which would later be called Columbia Church, she said, had a weather vane, but no tower. When the Columbia Church was disbanded on Dec. 31, 1804, the Concord Society was organized to manage the church, rebuilding the steeple and adding a tower in 1818, she said. The church was torn down in 1842, with the Catholics and Universalists the last to call it home.
“Eventually the denominations became larger and needed churches of their own,” said Cioch. “The Octagon Church wasn’t needed after that.”
The monument originally cost the members of the Astenrogen Chapter $200.
“I would say it was money well spent,” said Cioch. “It’s in remarkable condition.”
The bronze tablet on the stone monument reads, “This memorial erected by Astenrogen Chapter, daughters of the American Revolution of Little Falls, New York, aided by patriotic citizens of this city, was dedicated Sept. 5, 1911, and marks the site of the old Octagon Church, the first church in Little Falls, in which all denominations worshipped. Built in 1796, demolished in 1842.”
“Historic preservation is one of the pillars of the Daughters of the American Revolution, so the dedication and rededication of this marker go hand-in-hand with that,” said Mosher.
Adding to their preservation efforts on Monday, Mosher said prior to the rededication of the Octagon Church monument, the chapter dedicated a new stone, donated by Humphrey Memorials, to the heroic efforts of the John Christian Shell family. The stone is on Shells Bush Road and stands where the family’s blockhouse stood.
It was at that location the family defended their house during the Revolutionary War, said Mosher.
The original monument was marble and the effects of time and road spray caused the deterioration of the stone and the words carved on it.
Humphrey Memorials ordered a new granite stone and cut the original words on the monument.
“Our chapter has a number of monuments and memorials throughout Little Falls and the surrounding area,” said Mosher after Monday’s rededication ceremony at the corner of Church and Prospect streets. “There is a lot of history here that is worth preserving. As a chapter, we are happy to call attention to places like the Octagon Church to promote local history.”
