Emergency Biohazard Cleanup Near Downtown Corning Corning, IA

Corning was established in 1869 when the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad reached the site on August 23 of that year, pulling the local depot away from nearby Queen City.

The town was named for Erastus Corning, a railroad magnate who held stock in the line — and who donated a bell to Corning's Methodist church.

Corning incorporated as a city on December 13, 1871, and in November 1872 voters moved the Adams County seat here from Quincy.

Corning is the county seat of Adams County, the least populous county in Iowa.

Television legend Johnny Carson was born in Corning in 1925; his birthplace home at 13th Street and Davis Avenue has been restored to its 1920s appearance and welcomes visitors.

Carson gave back to his birthplace, including $75,000 toward the Carnac Family Skatepark — a 1,200-square-foot skatepark named for his "Carnac the Magnificent" character, with another $5,000 donated by skateboarder Tony Hawk.

Corning is also the birthplace of Daniel Webster Turner, who served as governor of Iowa from 1931 to 1933.

Before Corning existed, French Icarian utopians who arrived from Nauvoo, Illinois in 1852 built a communal colony near Lake Icaria in 1854 — the longest-lasting Icarian colony in the United States, with some residents living communally until 1898.

Corning still celebrates that French heritage each June with Le Festival de l'Heritage Français.

The Corning Opera House, built in 1902, has been brought back through a ten-year renovation.