A GL IMPSE INTO

CORNING,NEW YORK

BY JOE TOPICHAK

THE F IRST SET TLEMENT IN THE TOWN OF CORNING, A C ITY IN STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES , ON THE CHEMUNG R IVER , WAS MADE NEAR THE S ITE OF THE FUTURE C ITY IN 1796 .

THE COMMUNITY WAS SET APART FROM THE TOWN AS A V ILLAGE IN 1848 AND INCORPORATED AS A C ITY IN 1890 .

AS THE GLASS INDUSTRY DEVELOPED, CORNING BECAME KNOWN AS THE "CRYSTAL C ITY.”

IT IS NAMED FOR ERASTUS CORNING, AN ALBANY F INANCIER AND RA ILROAD EXECUTIVE WHO

WAS AN INVESTOR IN THE COMPANY THAT DEVELOPED THE

COMMUNITY.

CORNING CHANGED L IGHTING FOREVER BY CREATING A WAY TO

MASS-PRODUCE THE BULBS, MAKING INCANDESCENT L IGHTS

WIDELY AFFORDABLE , AFTER THOMAS EDISON ASKED THE

COMPANY NAMED CORNING TO PRODUCE GLASS ENVELOPES, OR

BULBS, FOR HIS NEWLY INVENTED INCANDESCENT LAMP, IN1879.

THE WORLD'S PREMIER COLLECTION OF GLASS CONTAINING OVER 45 ,000

OBJECTS COVERING OVER 3 ,500 YEARS OF THE ART AND HISTORY OF

GLASS IS CONTAINED IN THE CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS.

THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE COLLECTION OF WESTERN ART

SCULPTURE EAST OF THE MISSISS IPP I IS HOUSED IN THE ROCKWELL

MUSEUM OF WESTERN ART, ASSEMBLED OVER THE PAST 40

YEARS BY ROBERT F. AND HERTHA ROCKWELL.

IN 1997, CORNING CONTRIBUTED A COLOSSAL MIRROR TO THE SUBARU

TELESCOPE. OVER 26 FEET ACROSS AND 8 INCHES THICK, THIS 27-TON P IECE OF

GLASS IS ONE OF THE LARGEST EVER MADE.

BENJAMIN PAT TERSON INN, (FORMERLY JENNING'S TAVERN IN CORNING) , IS THE

OLDEST FRAME STRUCTURE IN THE VALLE , BUILT IN 1796.

NOW CALLED THE BENJAMIN PAT TERSON INN MUSEUM, IT DEP ICTS L IFE IN THE

EARLY 1800’S .

CORNING COMMUNITY COLLEGE HAS ITS OWN PLANETARIUM

AND OBSERVATORY COMPLEX, OFFERING SHOWS TO GROUPS

AND TO THE PUBLIC .

CORNING SUPPLIED THE WINDOWS FOR SOME OF THE UNITED STATES’

EARLIEST SPACECRAFT — INCLUDING THE FR IENDSHIP 7 FLOWN BY JOHN

GLENN FOR THE F IRST U .S . MANNED ORBITAL FL IGHT — AND CONTINUES TO SUPPLY NASA WITH SPECIALLY

ENGINEERED WINDOWS DESIGNED TO WITHSTAND THE R IGORS OF SPACE

CONDIT IONS.

H ISTORIC MARKET STREET IN

CORNING IS THE MODEL FOR A NATIONAL PROGRAM AIMED AT

REV ITALIZ ING HISTORIC DOWNTOWN DISTRICTS.

CORNING IS HOME TO ONE OF THE UNITED STATES’ EARLIEST R&D

FACIL IT IES . CORNING ESTABLISHED ITS SC IENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

LABORATORY IN 1908, WHEN ONLY A HANDFUL OF COMPANIES WERE ENGAGED IN FORMAL RESEARCH

AND DEVELOPMENT.

EACH P IECE OF EXQUIS ITE STEUBEN CRYSTAL IS A UNIQUE

P IECE OF ART CREATED BY HAND AT ONLY ONE LOCATION IN THE WORLD - CORNING, NEW YORK.

IT IS A WELL-KNOWN GIFT TO UNITED STATES PRESIDENTS AND

INTERNATIONAL D IGNITARIES .

“HOME IS A NAME, A WORD, IT IS A STRONG ONE; STRONGER THAN MAGIC IAN EVER SPOKE, OR SP IR IT EVER ANSWERED TO, IN THE STRONGEST CONJURATION.”

- Charles Dickens