When it comes right down to it, Little Falls is all about water.

The earliest explorers in America found it easiest to move along the waterways and rivers as did the Native Americans living here. In the 1600s and 1700s, the British colonies extended inward from the Atlantic Ocean to the Appalachian Mountains. The rivers there flowed down from the eastern slopes of the mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. On the western side of these mountains, the streams and rivers ran down to the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers on their way to the Mississippi River and eventually out to the Gulf of Mexico. Crossing these mountains, which stretched 1,200 miles from Montreal to Georgia, was arduous, and crossing by a continuous water route was impossible except for one place.

That single place is the Mohawk River which cuts a narrow corridor between the Adirondack and Catskill mountains, both of which are a part of the Appalachian chain. Once through the Mohawk Valley via its river, explorers and travelers could continue into the interior of the country through the Great Lakes or other nearby waters routes. Little Falls is on the Mohawk River.