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:
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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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 local papers including the Corning Leader, Corning Evening Leader, Corning Journal and 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!
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Local History & Newspaper blog posts are published on Fridays.
Hi everyone, here is last week’s local history photos and vintage newspaper blog post—albeit a bit late. My apologies for the delay; an unexpected family matter required me to take several days off on short notice.
And if you take a close look at this week’s Evening Leader, originally published 100 years ago on March 20, 1926 you’ll notice something special—that March 20, 2026, marks the birthday of the City of Corning! (We can celebrate a bit late!)
On page five of the March 20, 1926 edition of The Leader, it is noted that Corning was celebrating the 36th anniversary of its incorporation as a city. Of course, that was a century ago; today we celebrate the 136th anniversary of Corning becoming a city. How cool is that!
Here is a portion of the 1926 Leader article titled Corning Has Anniversary:
“Corning celebrates the 36th anniversary of its cityhood. The bill creating the city became a law and received executive sanction on the 20th of March, 1890. On April 2, 1890 the first election was held with the following result: Mayor, Dr. William E. Gorton; Recorder, D. F. Browne; Chamberlain, L. B. Robinson Overseerer of the Poor Thomas O’Brien; Justices of the peace; George Hitchcock and Thomas Heffernan; Supervisors William A. Foster, Peter Griffin and S. C. Robertson. Aldermen, John Peart and William Hunt first ward; John W. Fedder and William T. Brady second ward; E. Clisdell and William Rubright third ward; John Cogan and James McMahon, firth ward and George Clark and Albert Pritchard, sixth ward.
And here is the whole paper for that date, Saturday, March 20, 1926:
Additionally, while scanning the March/April 1926 Leaders for material for upcoming local history posts, I came across a neat, related article from April 3, 1926. The piece features an interview with Corning’s first mayor, Dr. W. E. Gorton, in which he recounts some of his experiences serving as the city’s inaugural mayor & that too is cool! Check it out!
Here is the article titled Dr. W. E. Gorton, The City’s First Mayor, Recalls Experiences:
Local History Photo 1:Corning Free Academy Basketball Team (1900)
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Local History Photo 2:Theodore Roosevelt
Our second photo for this week, is really a strip of two photos, and shows Theodore Roosevelt hard at work – when the photo was taken and why it is in our local history archive I don’t know!
However, T.R. was from New York State and was a state assemblyman, New York City Police Commissioner and Secretary of the Navy, before he became the 26th President of the United States & they are neat photos, so I thought I’d share them!
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Local History Photo 3:Market Street, Corning, N.Y.
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Have a great week 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:
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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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 local papers including the Corning Leader, Corning Evening Leader, Corning Journal and 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!
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Local History & Newspaper blog posts are published on Fridays.
Hi everyone, here are the local history photos & vintage newspaper of the week.
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Local History & Newspaper blog posts are published on Fridays; and the next post will be out on Friday, April 25, 2025.
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As I was scanning a copy of the The Leader for this blog post, I came across an article, on the final page of the April 18, 1925 paper, notes that the Corning glassmaker, Frederick Carder had been appointed by the then Secretary of Commerce, and future President, Herbert Hoover as Commissioner to Attend International Exposition of Decorative Arts in Paris; and it got me thinking that I don’t talk much about local notables from the past in this blog, other than whomever is highlighted in the Leader issue spotlighted each week. So I thought I’d adding some information on citizens who lived in Corning in the past and made a notable contribution to our local community; this also compliments the library’s in-house Notable Locals display, which by the way will be updated in May – but I digress!
Getting back to the point, as Frederick Carder is mentioned in The Leader that was published 100 years ago today, on April 18, 1925, I thought I’d share a bit of information on him to refresh the memories of many of us and perhaps enlighten a few others.
In a nutshell, Carder was born in England, learned glassmaking there and was later recruited by glassmaker Thomas Hawkes* to come to Corning and manage The Steuben Glass Works, which he did from 1903-1932. He then took a position as design director for Corning Glass Works. Carder was a very creative and industrious individual, and spry too and continued working locally in the glassmaking business until his retirement at age 96!
In addition to his passion for glassmaking, Frederick Carder was a firm believer in getting a good education and supported the advancement of local education and as a result had a school, my alma mater named after him – Frederick Carder Elementary School in Corning.
For more information on Carder, and there is quite a bit to be found online; however, if you wish to go the traditional route, you can check out a book from the library – a neat one is: Frederick Carder: Portrait Of A Glassmaker by Paul Gardner.
And as a FYI note, while you’re traveling about town, check out the historic marker for The Steuben Glass Works; it was located where today we have a parking lot, across Denison Parkway in Corning from Burger King & the historic marker is on the north side of the street adjacent to Burger King.
Here is a link to a photo of the marker, which if you’re anything like me and you live in Corning – you buzz around town and don’t tend to notice the historic markers – but they are cool! https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=249463
And with all of that in mind, our first photo for this week is of Frederick Carder posing with the corner stone of Carder Elementary School in 1954.
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Local History Photo 1:Frederick Carder With Carder School Corner Stone
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Local History Photo 2:Pine Street Looking North
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Local History Photo 3:Getting Into A Carriage With Corning Glass Works Buildings In Background
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A Glimpse of Local Life: A Hundred Years Ago!
Here is an entire issue of The Evening Leader, Corning, N.Y. published on this day in 1925.
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The Evening Leader, Corning, N.Y. | April 18, 1925
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:
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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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 local papers including the Corning Leader, Corning Evening Leader, Corning Journal and 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!
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:
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
–
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 local papers including the Corning Leader, Corning Evening Leader, Corning Journal and 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!
Hi everyone, while I was researching something completely different, I came across multiple articles, and even whole sections of The Evening Leader that focus on the history of Corning; on the occasion of the formal centennial celebrations for the city, held on September 11, 1948.
Corning became a village in July 1848; and a city on March 20, 1890. (Dimitroff & Janes, 1991)
And I believe the reason the centennial celebrations for Corning were held in September, instead of July 1948; is due to the fact that the long-awaited opening of the World War Memorial Stadium was scheduled for September of that year; and that opening was a bid deal! It even included a visit by victorious general and future president, Dwight D. Eisenhower.
So, I thought we could celebrate Corning’s birthday today too – Happy 176th Birthday Corning! ! Or a belated Happy 176th Birthday, if you want to go with the July date!
And The Leader had some great local history related articles to celebrate the centennial over three sections; all three sections are included in this post, along with a few articles from The Corning Journal and Daily Democrat, that offer a bit of info on the passage of the city charter in 1890.
Enjoy!
Linda
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The Corning City Charter Bill, The Corning Journal, March 20, 1890
City Charter Passed, Part 1 Top Part of Page, The Corning Journal, March 27, 1890
You’ll find the article on the passage of the city charter in column two just under the sections on the City Convention & CAUCUSES.
And the reason I’ve posted the page in two parts is because some of the microfilm for older newspapers, like issues of the Corning Journal from 1890, is in an overlarge format by modern standards and it doesn’t fit one one page.
And as the July 5, 1924 issue of The Leader is rather dark, due to the way it was original scanned, here is a bonus local paper, a weekly issue of the Steuben Courier (Bath, N.Y. ) which is a bit easier to read!
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:
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
–
Enjoy the photos and be well everyone,
Linda Reimer, SSCL
–
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 local papers including the Corning Leader, Corning Evening Leader, Corning Journal and 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!
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:
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
–
Enjoy the photos and be well everyone,
Linda Reimer, SSCL
–
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 local papers including the Corning Leader, Corning Evening Leader, Corning Journal and 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!
Corning History 