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Corning is a city in Quincy and
Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to ...
Townships, Adams County,
Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
, United States. The population was 1,564 at the 2020 census. It is the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of Adams County. Corning is located just north of the intersection of U.S. Route 34 and Iowa Highway 148. Corning is perhaps best known as the birthplace of
Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, and writer best known as the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson is a cultural phenomenon and w ...
. Daniel Webster Turner, who was
governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
of Iowa from 1931 to 1933, was born in Corning on March 17, 1877. The town is named for
Erastus Corning Erastus Corning (December 14, 1794 – April 9, 1872) was an American businessman and politician from Albany, New York. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he was most notable for his service as mayor of Albany, New York, mayor of Alba ...
who owned stock in the
Burlington and Missouri River Railroad The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad (B&MR) or sometimes (B&M) was an American railroad company incorporated in Iowa in 1852, with Burlington Headquarters Building, headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. It was developed to build a railroad acros ...
which reached Corning on August 23, 1869 (resulting in the local depot moving from nearby Queen City to Corning). Corning donated a church bell to the Methodist Church. Corning also owned sizeable shares of the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of ...
and other towns on the railroad including Corning, Missouri.


History


French Icarian settlement

The first European settlers here were a group of French Icarians who came from
Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo ( ; from the ) is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its h ...
in 1852; they established a community near Lake Icaria, north of Corning in 1854. The new state of Iowa gave the town of "Icaria" a corporate charter in 1860. This community was dedicated to the utopian principles of Etienne Cabet and the democratic principles of the
American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
and the French Revolution; this small French-speaking community considered themselves to be very patriotic Americans. In the 1860s, the community split between "traditionalists" and "progressives" (the latter favored women's right to vote). The "progressives" left the original site and moved to a new location about three miles (5 km) east of Corning's location. Although the corporation formally dissolved in 1878, some continued to live in the communal dwellings until 1898, making this the longest-lasting Icarian colony in the United States. Eventually the community disbanded and merged into the general population. Displays and documents about the Icarian community can be found at the Icarian History Foundation office and in the Adams County offices, both in Corning. The former colony east of Corning is slowly being restored with the help of state and federal grants, and it will become a historical site; as of 2006, only a couple of partially restored buildings and a very small cemetery (with grave markers inscribed in French) remain. Around the first weekend of June each year, Corning celebrates ''"Le Festival De L'Heritage Francais"'' in the French market.


American settlement

Nearby Queen City had been established ''circa'' 1854. Surveyors came to the location of Corning in 1857, though the area was largely uninhabited (except by the Icarians) until 1869. Corning was incorporated as a city on December 13, 1871. The first Adams County seat was established by act of the Iowa Legislature on January 12, 1853, at Quincy. The building was later used as a schoolhouse and in 1932, it was torn down. In November 1872, the people voted to remove the courthouse from Quincy and locate the county seat in Corning.


Points of Interest

The Corning post office contains a mural, ''Band Concert'', painted in 1941 by Marion Gilmore. Murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 in the United States through the
Section of Painting and Sculpture Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section s ...
, later called the
Section of Fine Arts Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...
, of the Treasury Department. Gilmore's original entry won a federal-sponsored Forty-Eight States design competition in 1939 and depicted a Sunday band concert but a local jury of concerned citizens requested that Gilmore's image contain only actual architecture and landmarks in the downtown district and that she remove a cannon and an obelisk from the image. Gilmore made the changes to accommodate a WPA requirement stipulating that murals should "suit the taste of the local townspeople".


Festivals

Corning hosts Lazy Days of Summer on the last weekend in July. The weekend includes a BBQ competition, street dance, Doctors' Dash race, and other events around the community.


Parks and recreation

Lake Icaria is a 650-acre man-made lake, four miles north of Corning on Iowa Highway 148. The lake has a beach, marina, playgrounds, picnic shelters, cabins, primitive campground, non-primitive campground, and numerous nature trails. Lake Icaria offers great fishing with largemouth bass, bluegill, crappie, channel catfish, perch, walleye, and wiper. Boating and camping are very popular, bringing in visitors from all over
Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
,
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
and
Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
. A smaller lake, Lake Binder, is located one mile east of Corning and offers a quieter setting for camping and fishing. The Nodaway River has two tributaries that run through the area. The East Nodaway River flows through Corning, and the Middle Nodaway River runs four miles north of town and through
Carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...
. Both rivers are popular kayaking and tubing spots in the summer months and have river entry.


Geography

According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , all land.


Climate

According to the
Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
system, Corning has a
hot-summer humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
, abbreviated "Dfa" on climate maps.


Demographics


2020 census

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2020, there were 1,564 people, 700 households, and 391 families residing in the city. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was 1,003.7 inhabitants per square mile (387.5/km2). There were 817 housing units at an average density of 524.3 per square mile (202.4/km2). The
racial Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of va ...
makeup of the city was 94.7%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.4% Black or African American, 0.4% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.0%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 0.8% from other races and 3.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino persons of any race comprised 1.0% of the population. Of the 700 households, 24.7% of which had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.7% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 7.6% were cohabitating couples, 31.6% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present and 19.1% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. 44.1% of all households were non-families. 38.0% of all households were made up of individuals, 20.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years old or older. The median age in the city was 43.9 years. 23.7% of the residents were under the age of 20; 4.5% were between the ages of 20 and 24; 23.1% were from 25 and 44; 25.8% were from 45 and 64; and 23.0% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.1% male and 52.9% female.


2010 census

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2010, there were 1,635 people, 725 households, and 427 families residing in the city. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 849 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.2%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.1%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.2% Native American, 0.9% Asian, and 0.6% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 0.8% of the population. There were 725 households, of which 25.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 41.1% were non-families. 36.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.80. The median age in the city was 45.3 years. 21.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 21.2% were from 25 to 44; 26.2% were from 45 to 64; and 24.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.9% male and 53.1% female.


2000 census

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 1,783 people, 803 households, and 452 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 880 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 99.16%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.17%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.22% Asian, 0.11% from other races, and 0.34% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 0.73% of the population. There were 803 households, out of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.1% were single, and 43.6% were non-families. 39.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 24.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.87. Age spread: 22.5% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 26.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $28,977, and the median income for a family was $45,227. Males had a median income of $26,667 versus $19,569 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $15,836. About 5.0% of families and 7.5% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 8.5% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.


Education

Public education for elementary and secondary school students is provided by the local school district Corning Community Schools. The school system, as of 2013, began whole grade sharing with the nearby Villisca Community School District, and the Corning district operates jointly with the Villisca district, Southwest Valley High School, with the mascot being the Timberwolf.HomeSouthwest Valley Schools
(joint website operated by the Corning and Villisca districts). Retrieved on July 15, 2018. Students completing their studies previously graduated from Corning High School. The school's mascot and athletic emblem were the Red Raiders.


Notable people

* Byron Barr, actor who starred in ''
Double Indemnity ''Double Indemnity'' is a 1944 American film noir directed by Billy Wilder and produced by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom. Wilder and Raymond Chandler adapted the screenplay from James M. Cain's Double Indemnity (novel), novel of the same na ...
'' and ''
Tokyo Rose Tokyo Rose (alternative spelling Tokio Rose) was a name given by Allied troops in the South Pacific during World War II to all female English-speaking radio broadcasters of Japanese propaganda. The programs were broadcast in the South Pacific ...
'' *
Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, and writer best known as the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson is a cultural phenomenon and w ...
, American talk show host and comedian, was born in Corning. *
Horace Mann Towner Horace Mann Towner (October 23, 1855 – November 23, 1937) was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa's 8th congressional district and appointed the governor of Puerto Rico. In a ...
,
United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
from Iowa's 8th congressional district * Daniel Webster Turner,
Governor of Iowa A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...
from 1931–1933.


References


External links


Adams County Speedway
Comprehensive Statistical Data and more about Corning
Official website
{{authority control New France Cities in Adams County, Iowa Cities in Iowa County seats in Iowa Populated places established in 1852 1852 establishments in Iowa