Gen. Herkimer (1728-1777) was the son of John Jost Herkimer (d. 1775), one of the original group of German settlers in this section of the Mohawk Valley. Gen. Herkimer was colonel of the Tyrone County Militia in 1775, and was made brigadier general of the state militia in 1776. He was mortally wounded at the battle of Oriskany.
It is planned to establish an Historical Museum at the old Herkimer homestead. Near the city is the grave of Gen. Herkimer, to whom a monument was erected in 1896.
The water power derived from the falls has stimulated manufacturing in the city; its output includes cotton yarns, hosiery, knit goods, leather, etc., valued at $15,000,000 annually. The city is one of the largest cheese markets in the U.S.
Fort Plain (1777)
(From an old print in the N.Y. Public Library)
This was built in place of another unsatisfactory fort by the American government early in the Revolution, and was designed by an experienced French engineer. "As a piece of architecture, it was well wrought and neatly finished and surpassed all the forts in that region."
223 M. HERKIMER, Pop. 10,453.
(Train 51 passes 1:07; No. 3, 2:06; No. 41, 6:25; No. 25, 7:22; No. 19, 10:47. Eastbound: No. 6 passes 4:15; No. 26, 4:49; No. 16, 10:12; No. 22, 12:08.)
Herkimer was settled about 1725 by Palatine Germans, who bought from the Mohawk Indians a large tract of land, including the present site of the village. They established several settlements which became known collectively as "German Flats."
These settlers came from the Palatinate, a province of the kingdom of Bavaria, lying west of the Rhine. The district had been torn by a succession of wars, culminating in the carnage wrought by the French in 1707. In the following year, more than 13,000 Palatines emigrated to America, settling first on the Livingston Manor, and later along the Mohawk and elsewhere.