Greater Utica Magazine Cover – November 2021 – Old Home Week Utica NY 1914

The November 2021 cover of Greater Utica Magazine highlights Old Home Week in Utica, NY (1914)—one of the largest and most ambitious civic celebrations in the city’s history.

Held from August 3–10, 1914, Old Home Week was organized by the Utica Chamber of Commerce as a grand homecoming event, inviting former residents back to experience a thriving and modern city. At the time, Utica was booming—showcasing new infrastructure, industry, and civic pride.

The week-long celebration featured parades, concerts, fireworks, and aviation demonstrations—an exciting and relatively new attraction in 1914. One of the most significant highlights was a massive historical pageant held in Roscoe Conkling Park, involving more than 3,000 participants reenacting key moments from local history, including the founding of Old Fort Schuyler and the Battle of Oriskany.

The event also included visits from dignitaries such as New York Governor Martin Glynn, themed celebration days, and the unveiling of the Baron von Steuben statue, further cementing the week’s importance in Utica history.

Old Home Week served as both a celebration of the city’s past and a bold statement about its future—bringing together residents, visitors, and former Uticans in a rare moment of unity and civic pride, just as the world was entering a new and uncertain era with the outbreak of World War I.