Hi everyone, here are the Local History Photos of the Week!

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Local History photos are published on Fridays; and the next local history photo posting will be up on Friday, January, 28, 2022.

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Helpful Photo Viewing Tips are found at the end of the posting for anyone who would like a few tips on how best to view the photos*

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Local History Photo 1: Information will be updated shortly – thanks, Linda 1/25/2022

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Local History Photo 2: Corning Glass Works Factory Buildings (date unknown)

Our second photo for this week shows Corning Glass Works factory buildings during an era of high water!

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Local History Photo 3: Reading On The Sidewalk (circa late 1800s)

Our third photo for this week is one of my favorites, of all the photos in the Local History archive!

It shows a young man reading on the raised wooden sidewalk in Corning sometime in the past. The photo is undated, but I would estimate it was taken in the late 19th Century by the fact that there aren’t any cars to be seen in the background – just horses and carriages.

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Old Newspaper Article of the Week

CORNING’S NEW POST OFFICE OPENED TODAY

Federal Building Erected at Cost of $50,000 is a Monument to the City – J. D. McGannon Buys First Stamp.

From The Evening Leader, Corning, N.Y. | January 10, 1910

The first two columns of the article:

And the second two columns of the article:

Here is the text of the article, and in a few places the words are unreadable and in those few cases you’ll see dashes — to signify the word wasn’t readable – but what a neat article on the opening of the grand new Post Office in 1910. A post office that is still in operation, as that location, more than 100 years later!

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CORNING’S NEW POST OFFICE OPENED TODAY
Federal Building Erected at Cost of $50,000 is a Monument to the City – J. D. McGannon Buys First
From The Evening Leader, Corning, N.Y. | January 10, 1910 | Page Three

     The Corning Post Office began doing business regularly today at the new  — building at Erie Avenue and Walnut Streets.

     Sunday the regular hours were observed at the old Post Office, but as soon as the windows had been closed down all was bustle and hurray within: for the office had to be moved to its new location without any interruption in service.  The –, mails documents, etc., were all that had to be removed, the fixates and furnishings of the old Post Office belonging to James A. Drake, the owner of the building.

     The government’s property was loaded onto the drays of the C. R. Maltby Company and transferred to its new quarters, the clerics of the office working all day at process of settling.

     Sunday hundreds of persons visited the lobby of the new Post Office and not a few were accorded the privilege of a trip behind the scenes through the courtesy of Postmaster Charles McIntosh.  All were loud in their praise of the new building from an artistic point of view.  The government has certainly done well by Corning and the new Post Office as a monument of which the city may well feel proud.

     The lobby of the office which occupies the front of the building and the entire north side, is furnished in oak which has been finished by rubbing it until it presents the appearance of another wood.  The flooring is mosaic.  Handsome electric fixtures are provided from ac lights ranging from the ceiling by heavy chains and artistic design. 

     The carriers windows, four in number, are located at the front of the lobby opposite the entrance.  On the north of the building are the general delivery and the stamp windows, the lock boxes and call boxes.  The money order and registry departments occupy a small room by themselves at the northwest corner of the building.

     Postmaster H. H. Pratt has his private office located at the left of the main entrance.  It is approached by a private entry way.

     Within the work room of the office the clerks complain that they are in crowded quarters, the bulky equipment provided in such generous quantities by the government affording no superfluous room and sometimes actually handicapping any easy movement. There are new cases for the city an rural carriers and a — — for the carriers the city newspapers and other large concerns.  There are also new sorting cases.

     The clerks at the stamp window each have a compartment in a safe to which they alone possess the combination.  Each clerk keeps his stamps and his own receipts in the compartment allotted him and is responsible for his own accounts and vaults are provided in generous numbers all over the building.

     There is a retiring room with marble walls for young lady clerks through none are employed at present.

     In the basement there is a rest room for carries fitted up with tables and chairs.  Here the carriers stay when off duty. The  government has provided shower bath facilities in connection.

     The government made an appropriation for the site for the building now completed in 1903, Congressman Charles W. Gillet succeeding in getting the appropriation made.  The appropriate for the construction of the building was secured during Congressman J. Sloat Fassett’s term.  950,000 being set aside for this purpose.  The contract price for the building was $843,000. The fixtures and furnishings are provided by the government.

     The German Evangelical Church which obstructed the site was razed and the ground broken for the new building early in the spring of 1908.  The building is not yet wholly complete as the painters and finishers are still at work in the interior.

     The first stamp sold at the new office was issued Sunday afternoon to John D. McGannon of Walnut Street. G. Wharton Robertson making the sale.

     This morning the keys for the lock boxes were given out at the office. The number of those boxes is only half as great as at the old office and the demand for them far exceeded the supply.  It is probable that more will have to be installed later, some of the call boxes being replaced by them.

     A good many business men are grumbling at the long walks that have to take to reach the new office which is — — blocks — — from Pine Street Square in which the old post office is located.  Within a few days everything should be moving along very smoothly at the new quarters by then the business men will have become reconciled to the long walk.   

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And here is all of Page Three of the Evening Leader for January 10, 1910.

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Have a great weekend everyone,

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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Local History Online Library Resources:

Heritage Quest: Heritage Quest is the library’s online genealogy service, and it includes access to census records and other research sources; it can be accessed by going to the Online Resources page, on the library’s website, and scrolling down until you see the link for Heritage Quest:

https://www.ssclibrary.org/research/online-resources/

Once you’ve clicked on the Heritage Quest link, you’ll be prompted to login with your card number and PIN. If you have questions about how to use Heritage Quest, please feel free to let me know – my email address is reimerl@stls.org

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Enjoy the photos and be well everyone,

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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*To Create A Larger View (make the photos appear bigger on your screen):

You can click on each photo for a larger view. And then click the back arrow on your web browser to go back to the previous screen.

Alternatively, you can press and hold down the CTRL key, on your keyboard, while tapping the + key on your keyboard to make the photos appear larger on your screen.

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To Create A Smaller View (make the photos appear smaller on your screen – after you’ve made them appear larger):

 Press and hold the CTRL key on your keyboard and tap the – sign to make the photos appear smaller again.

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And If You Use A Mouse – CTRL & Scroll:

If you use a mouse you can do what is called “control and scroll”, to make photos appear larger and then smaller on your screen. To do this –>press and hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard and push the scroll wheel on your mouse away from you for a larger view. To reverse the larger view hold down the same CTRL key on your keyboard and pull the scroll wheel on your mouse towards you.

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Library Local History/Creation Station Resources:
At the library you can scan your photos and slides to create digital family albums and slideshows; and even use one of the Circut machines, and other Creation Station equipment, to help you create a special paper family history album.

Also of note, we have the local paper, at times called the Corning Leader, Corning Journal or Corning Daily Journal, on microfilm from 1840 to the present — so you can visit the library and research local history and your family tree if you wish!