History Corning (city), New York

the first settlement in town of corning made near site of future city in 1796. community set apart town village in 1848. corning incorporated city in 1890. glass industry developed, corning became known crystal city supported companies such hawkes, sinclair, , hunt - produced of finest american brilliant period cut glass between 1880-1915.

the corning area s first real industry lumber. first settlers used area s river systems transport logs , finished lumber in fleets downstream buyers. gave rise large mills helped develop area. rafting of lumber began wane timber depleted. @ 1 time mills of corning area reputed among biggest in world. after lumber depleted great mills moved north new forests.

east, across chemung river corning, lies gibson, site of feeder canal chemung canal system. of corning s prosperity came feeder canal system exposure. canal cargoes corning included soft coal, timber, tobacco, grain, , whiskey. april 22 december 11, 1850, canal season year, newspaper reported 1,116 boats left port of corning. tolls year totaled $54,060.39. among items shipped 46,572,400 pounds of coal. canal s best peacetime year 1854 when 270,978 tons of freight hauled. civil war brought abnormal amount of business, peak of 307,151 tons hauled in 1 year.

after civil war, industrial boom occurred in region. ingersoll rand opened during period in painted post, north of corning.

corning became railroad town in 1880s, many smaller railroad lines busily weaving webs of tracks connecting major trunk line smaller communities. in 1912, corning train wreck 3 miles east of corning in gibson left 39 dead.

the jenning s tavern, corning armory, market street historic district, southside historic district, world war memorial library, , united states post office listed on national register of historic places.

corning clock tower @ market , pine streets in downtown corning.