Ever hear of Knoxville? It’s what we call the Corning Northside. It used to be a separate incorporated village, and it was bigger than the village of Corning (what we now call Southside), which was mainly farmfields with a few scattered houses. An 1890 merger created the City of Corning, after which BOTH sides started to boom.
*In 1873 (pre-merger), Northside development was centered on the strip between Dodge Street and Sly Street. After the merger, Knoxville had 30% growth in two years. In 1891 year, 114 new dwellings were erected, plus a brick business block on Bridge Street and three stores at Bridge & Pulteney. McBurney plots east of Sly were developed beginning 1903, while the Fuller plots west of Dodge developed after 1913.
*Going back to 1796, land agent Charles Williamson built an inn on what we call West Pulteney Street, and installed Benjamin Patterson as the innkeeper. That was the road to the west in those days, and the Chemung River flowed just a few rods away. From this, the city grew.
*Patterson Inn, at Heritage Village of the Finger Lakes, is where we’ll start a free historic walking tour at 4 PM on Friday, August 2. (If it’s bad weather, we’ll have a tour of Heritage Village.) From there we’ll see a number of things, including:
*The former Merrill Silk mill. Merrill operated in Steuben County at least from 1891 to 1925. There were also silk mills in Hornell (the center of the industry, and of Merrill), Canisteo, Wayland, Cohocton, and Bath… the latter capitalized by community subscription.
*Hugh Gregg School, which goes back to about 1950 – PRECEDING the new buildings constructed in the late ‘fifties, in the run-up to, or aftermath of, consolidation during the Baby Boom.
*St. Vincent’s Church and School. A graduation celebration was taking place here in June of 1972, and about a hundred people got stranded by Hurricane Agnes and spent the night on the roof of the school. The school later closed, and the building was used by Christian Learning Center, now Corning Christian Academy. The church itself was already scheduled for closing when a stringer broke in the roof, so it was officially closed 11 months ago, leaving one Catholic worship center in Corning, and one in Painted Post.
*The Hazel Street area, where many houses are built to similar plan, or to mirror plans.
*Grace Methodist Church, which formed in 1897 and dedicated a frame building in 1898. The church enthusiastically welcomed a large Ku Klux Klan delegation in 1924 – 30 men, masked and robed, were welcomed with applause and the church quickly filled up as word spread through the neighborhood – they had to borrow folding chairs from the funeral home. The church at the time was already working on a major building program which had begun in 1922 but got stalled after the crash of 1929. They had to meet in the basement until work could be finished in 1938.
*The current location of Northside Liquor Company, formerly Corning Fire Department Station 2, home to Crystal City Hook and Ladder Company # 2.
*Several fine homes on Ontario Street.
*Once we approach Bridge and Pulteney we encounter late 19th- and 20th-century commercial block architecture. This includes the “Joe Sofia” building. In 1923, Joseph Sofia was a shoemaker on Market Street, renting a home on Front. By 1950 Joseph Sofia and Ralph Scott had Sophia Grocery on this spot… note change in spelling.
*Our route will also give us a peek at the much more-modern Corning Glass Works/Corning Incorporated facilities. And on Bridge we’ll see the M. L. Allen block, built around 1910. Mr. Maynard, who had a furniture and trucking business, was on the Board of Public Works in 1916. The furniture store closed in 1984 after 92 years and three generations in the same family.
*The Hotel Stanton on Bridge first appears in the 1923 directory. In 1950 it offered “Rooms with bath $2.00 to $5.00 double, running water, legal beverages and meals. Phone 35.” Next door was Randy’s Stanton Diner (phone 2380), a manufactured diner now sadly gone.
*We will also notice wall art at Brick House Brewery; Marconi Post 47, Italian American War Veterans of the United States; Kapral Motors, with its elaborate ornamental facade; the Corning Leader building; North Baptist Church, built 1906… besides giving a nod to Hokey Pokey!
*And of course we won’t forget the horrible tragedy of 1972, when lives were lost and every foot of our route was under water. We hope you’ll join us.