At the center of what makes Corning special is a downtown district brimming with business, architecture and history. In this edition of Your Hometown, Matt Jarchow takes a trip down Market Street to find out how it grew, and re-grew with the city.
CORNING, N.Y. -- Communities across the country searched for industry after the Civil War, and in 1868, the city of Corning got its now-famous glass industry. The Crystal City was born.
Workers came, and factories stretched along the Chemung River. The city and its downtown quickly grew.
"Corning began to take on the appearance of a factory town, and that was especially true on Market Street because with the factory only a block away or less, Market Street began to cater to the men and their families," said Tom Dimitroff, a historical author on the city.
More than 100 years after the glass industry came to Corning, the city continued its growth. Parts of Market Street however, began to deteriorate -- until two women came to the area and saw its enormous value.
"They saw the potential of Market Street, not just as a place to buy things, but as a place that could, one, compete with the malls, two, that could be a wonderful place for the people of Corning, and three, could be an additional tourist tenor," Dimitroff said.
One of those women who started the push for revitalization was Jene Wosinski.
"We appreciated the potential for preservation of Market Street, but that it was unloved and uncared for, and in desperate need of help," Wosinski said.
Wosinski says the greatness of Market Street starts in its architecture. Skilled architects brought their work to Corning at a time many of the big cities were shifting away from the style. The brick and terracotta structures they built came long ago in a late 1800s revitalization.
"After a disasterous fire that burned much of Market Street, they had the money to rebuild, and they rebuilt in style. A style that was a little bit out of style, but never the less, superbly done," Wosinski said.
It was another disaster that fast-tracked Wosinki's vision for a second revitalization. Market Street renewal talks were well underway by 1972, but Hurricane Agnes and a severe flood rapidly sped them up.
"In a way, the flood of '72 was instant urban renewal because it wiped out so much that you had to rebuild. You had to start over," Dimitroff said.
What remained was the architecture, the industry and the people. Combined with new ideas and work, Market Street's renewal is a resounding success.