Corning is a village in Perry County, Ohio, United States. The population was 488 at the 2020 census.
History
Originally named Ferrara, the town was focused on farming along the Sunday Creek Valley. That would change when the Atlantic and Lake Erie Railway completed the Moxahala tunnel in 1879. By 1880, Joseph Rodgers sold over 8,000 acres along Sunday Creek to the Ohio Central Coal Company. With New York capitalists investing heavily in the coal camp, the town was soon renamed Corning. A post office has been in operation at Corning since 1880.
[[File:Battle of Corning Map.jpg|alt=Siemer, Jobie (2023). Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion Along Sunday Creek. [Unpublished Manuscript]|thumb|Battle of Corning, September 19, 1880 On September 19, 1880, the Ohio National Guard battled white coal miners trying to force out newly arrived African American miners. The Battle of Corning, or the Corning War, was the first time the Ohio National Guard shed blood in defense of the state.
In 1884, the town witnessed an Irish Catholic Feud between local parish Priest Father Bernard O’Boylan and saloon owner Andy McDevitt. Known as the Corning Church War, the feud gained national attention and grew Corning’s reputation. After several mine strikes during the early 1890s, Corning served as the unofficial site of “insurgency” against the leadership of the newly formed United Mine Workers of America. The incident at the Mercer Hotel represented the “High Water Mark of the Color Line in Ohio,” establishing a boundary between acceptable and unacceptable segregation of African Americans across the state.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all land.
Demographics
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 583 people, 226 households, and 152 families living in the village. The population density was . There were 264 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 97.3% White, 0.5% African American, 0.3% Native American, and 1.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.3% of the population.
There were 226 households, of which 39.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.2% were married couples living together, 21.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 8.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 32.7% were non-families. 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.07.
The median age in the village was 30.9 years. 30% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.8% were from 25 to 44; 18.8% were from 45 to 64; and 13.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 48.9% male and 51.1% female.
2000 census
As of the census
Corning has a public library, a branch of the Perry County District Library.