Rome Sentinel

Herkimer 9 Foundation outlines big plans for Quackenbush Factory landmark

BY SELMA DIZDAREVIC Intern staff writer

Central New York could potentially become the home of a new basketball hall of fame. The Quackenbush Factory, where decades of innovation and history began in 1871, located on Herkimer’s iconic Main Street, has been added to the New York State and United States National Register of Historic Places.

Now, the Herkimer 9 Foundation says it has plans to restore the Quackenbush Factory and surrounding buildings to make Herkimer recognized for the invention of basketball.

Herkimer native Scott Flansburg is the president of the Herkimer 9 Foundation and the driving force behind the Quackenbush Factory revitalization. He cited a memoir written by another Herkimer native about the origin of basketball as one of his inspirations for the block’s restoration.

“When I first came back to Herkimer three years ago, I read a book over the winter called ‘I Grew Up with Basketball’ by Frank J. Basloe and it said that basketball was invented in Herkimer,” said Flansburg. “I thought if I could prove that book was true, we could use it to help Herkimer.”

The Quackenbush Factory, founded as H. M. Quackenbush Co., was established by inventor Henry Marcus Quackenbush. It was known for producing firearms, most notably the nutcracker and nutpick. In 1889, Quackenbush and his wife donated $1,500 to start a YMCA on the company’s block.

A year later, Flansburg says, basketball was invented there.

Flansburg and the Herkimer 9 Foundation have outlined plans to create a small museum in honor of Quackenbush and another building that could house a basketball hall of fame.

The Basketball Hall of Fame, which honors numerous legends of the sport, is located in Springfield, Massachusetts.

“Without the Quackenbush family, basketball might not have been,” said Flansburg. “Our goal is to have a small museum to honor Mr. Quackenbush, and potentially another museum that could be the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame.”

In addition to museums, the vision for Herkimer’s historic block includes a stadium, business center, hotel and learning center. The Herkimer 9 Foundation hopes to restore the area to what it was in 1891 while attracting basketball lovers from across the globe. “We want to take that block and freeze it in time so that kids from around the world can come here and shoot baskets where the first basket was actually made,” said Flansburg. “I think basketball fans will resonate with this story.”

For more information on the Herkimer 9 Foundation and to view its two-minute visual walk-through video on the restoration, visit https://herkimer9. org/.

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2023-06-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

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