Joe Topichak's collection of some interesting facts about the historically rich city of Corning, New York. http://joetopichak.com/

1. A GL IMPSE INTO
CORNING,NEW YORK
BY JOE TOPICHAK

2. THE F IRST SET T LEMENT IN THE TOWN OF CORNING, A CI TY IN STEUBEN
COUNTY, NEW YORK, UNI TED STATES, ON THE CHEMUNG RIVER, WAS MADE
NEAR THE SI TE OF THE FUTURE CI TY IN 1 7 9 6 . THE COMMUNI TY WAS SET
APART FROM THE TOWN AS A VI L LAGE IN 1 8 4 8 AND INCORPORATED AS A
CI TY IN 1 8 9 0 .
AS THE GLASS INDUSTRY DEVELOPED, CORNING BECAME KNOWN AS THE
" C R Y S T A L C I T Y . ”

3. I T IS NAMED FOR ERASTUS
CORNING, AN ALBANY F INANCIER
AND RAI LROAD EXECUT IVE WHO
WAS AN INVESTOR IN THE COMPANY
THAT DEVELOPED THE COMMUNI TY.

4. CORNING CHANGED L IGHT ING
FOREVER BY CREAT ING A WAY TO
MASS-PRODUCE THE BULBS, MAKING
INCANDESCENT L IGHTS WIDELY
AF FORDABLE, AF TER THOMAS
EDISON ASKED THE COMPANY
NAMED CORNING TO PRODUCE
GLASS ENVELOPES, OR BULBS, FOR
HIS NEWLY INVENTED
INCANDESCENT LAMP, IN1 8 7 9 .

5. THE WORLD'S PREMIER COL LECT ION OF
GLASS CONTAINING OVER 4 5 , 0 0 0
OBJECTS COVERING OVER 3 , 5 0 0 YEARS
OF THE ART AND HISTORY OF GLASS IS
CONTAINED IN THE CORNING MUSEUM
OF GLASS.

6. THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE COL LECT ION
OF WESTERN ART SCULPTURE EAST OF
THE MISSISSIPPI IS HOUSED IN THE
ROCKWEL L MUSEUM OF WESTERN ART ,
ASSEMBLED OVER THE PAST 4 0 YEARS
BY ROBERT F . AND HERTHA ROCKWEL L .

7. IN 1 9 9 7 , CORNING CONTRIBUTED A
COLOSSAL MIRROR TO THE SUBARU
TELESCOPE. OVER 2 6 FEET ACROSS AND 8
INCHES THICK, THIS 2 7 - TON PIECE OF
GLASS IS ONE OF THE LARGEST EVER
MADE.

8. BENJAMIN PAT TERSON INN, ( FORMERLY
JENNING'S TAVERN IN CORNING) , IS THE
OLDEST FRAME STRUCTURE IN THE VAL LE,
BUI L T IN 1 7 9 6 .
NOW CAL LED THE BENJAMIN PAT TERSON INN
MUSEUM, I T DEPICTS L I FE IN THE EARLY
1 8 0 0 ’ S .

9. CORNING COMMUNI TY COL LEGE
HAS I TS OWN PLANETARIUM AND
OBSERVATORY COMPLEX,
OF FERING SHOWS TO GROUPS
AND TO THE PUBL IC.

10. CORNING SUPPL IED THE WINDOWS FOR
S O M E O F T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S ’ E A R L I E S T
SPACECRAFT — INCLUDING THE
FRIENDSHIP 7 F LOWN BY JOHN GLENN
FOR THE F IRST U.S. MANNED ORBI TAL
F L IGHT — AND CONT INUES TO SUPPLY
NASA WI TH SPECIAL LY ENGINEERED
WINDOWS DESIGNED TO WI THSTAND THE
RIGORS OF SPACE CONDI T IONS.

11. HISTORIC MARKET STREET IN
CORNING IS THE MODEL FOR A
NAT IONAL PROGRAM AIMED AT
REVI TAL I Z ING HISTORIC
DOWNTOWN DISTRICTS.

12. CORNING IS HOME TO ONE OF THE
U N I T E D S T A T E S ’ E A R L I E S T R & D
FACI L I T IES. CORNING ESTABL ISHED
I TS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
LABORATORY IN 1 9 0 8 , WHEN ONLY A
HANDFUL OF COMPANIES WERE
ENGAGED IN FORMAL RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT .

13. EACH PIECE OF EXQUISI TE STEUBEN
CRYSTAL IS A UNIQUE PIECE OF ART
CREATED BY HAND AT ONLY ONE
LOCAT ION IN THE WORLD- CORNING,
NEW YORK.
I T IS A WEL L -KNOWN GI F T TO UNI TED
STATES PRESIDENTS AND
INTERNAT IONAL DIGNI TARIES.

14. N E ; S T R O N G E R T H A N M A G I C IAN EVER SPOKE, OR SPIRI T EVER ANSWERED - Charles Dickens