Gloversville's History and Culture
In 1852, Gloversville was a small village called Stump City. When it became an incorporated village in 1853, the name was
changed to Gloversville due to the glove trade being established. In that year, the population was 1,318. Gloversville was
initially made up of three settlements, the Settlement, later referred to as the Mills Settlement, north of the city was the
Kingsboro settlement the third was called the Settlement on the Hill. These settlements grew inward to the four corners
which became the hub of the city.
With the coming of the FJ&G railroad in 1870, Gloversville's glove industry boomed, and it became known as
the glove Capitol of the World, later the industry adopted the slogan "Gloversville Gloves America", and later
the word world was substituted.
1915 Glove Machine Operators
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1918 Glove Finishers and Inspectors
Many prominent citizens have called Gloversville home. Among them are Lucius Littauer, who became a Congressman,
and through his generosity had the city's first hospital built. A bronze statue of Littauer stands today on the grounds of the
former high school at the corner of N. Main Street and Prospect Avenue.
Lucius N. Littauer
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Nathan Littauer Hospital built by Lucius Littauer as a memorial to his father Nathan
Bronze statue of Lucius Littauer Gloversville's greatest philanthropist.
Schamuel Gelbfisch came as an immigrant from Eastern Europe to work in a glove shop. He applied for citizenship and
later moved west to become Samuel Goldwyn one of the founders of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, a successful movie company.
Samuel Goldwyn MGM Trade Mark
Richard Russo, born and raised in Gloversville who is the author of "Mohawk", "Nobody's Fool", which was made into a film
starring Paul Newman, "Empire Falls", which became a mini-series on HBO, and most recently, "Bridge of Sighs", a
current best seller.
Richard Russo A Russo Best Seller
Gloversville at one time boasted many theatres and opera houses. The Kasson Opera house in Memorial Hall on Main
street hosted many prominent entertainers, such as Sarah Bernhardt, the first lady of the stage, Evelyn Nesbit, the Girl
in the Red Velvet swing who was married to Harry Thaw whose claim to fame was that he murdered the famed architect
Stanford White whom he believed soiled his lovely wife Evelyn. John Phillip Sousa and his Military Band played at the
theatre still stands today.
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Kasson Building 2003
The Darling Theatre located on Elm Street presented many of the popular plays of the era including "Uncle Tom's Cabin",
and other plays of social significance.
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Darling Theatre 1910
The Glove Theatre was built in 1904 and presented live plays and Vaudeville acts. It was bought by Myer and Louis
Schine and became their flagship of over 150 theatres that they owned. During their ownership, many prominent stars
of the screen came to Gloversville, most notably Claudette Colbert and Henry Fonda when the Glove premiered
" Drums along the Mohawk "in the 1930s.
Glove Theatre 1928
After being closed for over 20 years, the theatre has found new life as a performing arts venue due to the dedication of
several volunteers.
Glove Theatre 2002
During the 1890s, several elegant mansions were built in the city by prominent glove manufacturers, city officials and
other wealthy gentlemen. Many of these homes are still standing and occupied today.
109 First Avenue
132 First Avenue
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34 Grand Street ( Picture taken prior to 1997)
Gloversville is home to many historic public buildings, namely the Carnegie Library, a NYS Armory, an elementary school
now housing the Fulton County Museum, another elementary school now housing apartments, the Fulton Co National Bank
now housing the Fulton County Regional Chamber of Commerce, a private club known as the Eccentric Club and the former
home of the Elks Club was restored to become an auction house.
1905 Company G New York State Armory
2002 Fulton County Museum and Historical society
(Formerly Kingsboro School)
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1892 Columbia Elementary School now apartments
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1912 Fulton CO. National Bank now Fulton County Chamber of Commerce
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1908 Eccentric Club (Social Club named from "20,000 Leagues under the Sea")
1920 Elks Club (Elk is now in front of Fulton Co. Museum) Building current auction house
Several of the churches built around the turn of the century are still in use today.
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2007 North Main Street Methodist Church
2007 First Presbyterian Church West Fulton Street
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2002 Emmanuel Baptist Church James Street
The buildings on Main Street that were built in the late 1800's have endured as well, and some are or have been restored.
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South Side of West Fulton Street
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Corner of North Main and Spring Street
West Side North Main Street
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City National Bank now NBT West Side North Main Street
North West side of Four Corners of Main Street (Rose Block)
Main Street at Night
Yes indeed, Gloversville is a community steeped in history, architectural splendor and renowned for its sense of family
and community. COME SEE US! written by Retired City Historian Judy Marcoux and pictorial by Cynthia Morey
On March 19, 1890 Gloversville was incorporated as a City and the last Village Board of Trustees president was John J. Hanson.
Since then, Gloversville has had 32 different Mayors starting with Ashley Delos Baker 1890-1991.
Follwed with:
Clark L Jordan 1892-93 Chauncey C Thayer 1934-41
Howard G Dewey 1894-95 Robert B Ramsey 1942-53
Curtis S Cummings 1896-99 Roger B Haviland 1954-57
Edward S Parkhurst 1900-01 Eugene S Grover 1958-61
Albert L Covell 1902-03 Richard H Hood 1962-69
Dr Eugene Beach 1904-07 Robert P Best 1970-73
Frederick M Young 1908-09 Richard H Hood 1974-75
Wesley M Borst 1910-11 Eugene D Reppenhagen 1975-77 1st Full-Time
Alden L Henry 1912-13 Louis Nicolella 1978-81
George W Schermerhorn 1914-15 Eugene D Reppenhagen 1982-85
Abram Baird 1916-19 Susan J Hammond 1986-89
Theodore R Haviland 1920-21 John M Reich 1990-93
Frank A Patten 1922-23 Frank DeSantis 1994-97
John W Sisson 1924-27 Abraham Seroussi 1998-01
Franklin J Clark 1928-31 Frank LaPorta 2002-05
George W Green 1932-33 Timothy G Hughes 2006-09
Dayton King 2010-Present
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