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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Corning (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Corning. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Corning is located in Adams County and is the County Seat.

To see how the shape of Iowa's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Adams County: Adair, Cass, Montgomery, Page, Ringgold, Taylor & Union.

Below are the counties that are near Corning. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Corning:

  • Adams County     (The home county of Corning)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Corning, with the one closest to Corning listed first.
    • Queen City ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Queen City is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Queen City
    • Quincy
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Quincy is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
    • Brooks
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Mercer
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Prescott
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Carbon
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Iveyville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Mount Etna
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Mount Etna is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Etna
    • Stringtown
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Stringtown is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stringtown
    • Carl
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Nodaway
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Nodaway is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nodaway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
    • Strand
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Lincoln Center
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Lincoln Center is located in Adams County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Center
  • Adair County
  • Cass County
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Corning, with the one closest to Corning listed first.
    • Sciola
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Tenville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Villisca
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Clarinda Junction ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Clarinda Junction is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarinda Junction
    • Grant
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Grant is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grant
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 84 people
    • Stanton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Elliott
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Red Oak
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Coburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Coburg is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coburg
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 39 people
  • Page County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Corning, with the one closest to Corning listed first.
    • Hepburn
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Hepburn is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hepburn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17 people
    • Hawleyville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Hawleyville is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawleyville
    • Clarinda
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Nyman
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Shambaugh
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Yorktown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Yorktown is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorktown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 83 people
    • Tarkio City ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Tarkio City is located in Page County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tarkio City
  • Ringgold County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Corning, with the one closest to Corning listed first.
    • Knowlton ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Diagonal
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Benton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Benton is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
    • Maloy
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Tingley
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Delphos
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Delphos is located in Ringgold County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delphos
      • Estimated population in 2019: 24 people
  • Taylor County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Corning, with the one closest to Corning listed first.
    • Lenox
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Guss
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Sharpsburg
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Gravity
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Conway
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Conway is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 40 people
    • Ladoga
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Clearfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • New Market
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Bedford
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Siam
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Blockton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Blockton is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blockton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
    • Athelstan
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Athelstan is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Athelstan
  • Union County
  • Nodaway County (MO)
    • Hopkins
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Hopkins is located in Nodaway County (MO)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopkins
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 470 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hopkins <1>

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Corning, see our County-by-County Page for Corning.

Cemeteries Near Corning ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Corning.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Corning - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Corning covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Corning, with the one closest to Corning listed first.

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Corning had a population of 1,682 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Corning had a population of 1,424 people.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Corning, with the one closest to Corning listed first.

  • Brooks
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Quincy
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Quincy is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quincy
  • Iveyville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Holt
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Holt is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
  • Prescott
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Carbon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Mount Etna
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Mount Etna is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Etna
  • Nodaway
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Nodaway is located in Adams County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nodaway
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 102 people
  • Carl
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Strand
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Guss
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Lenox
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (18 more) ...

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Corning. See our List of 1890's Communities around Corning.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Corning ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 125 newspapers that have been published in the area around Corning.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Corning. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Corning and those printed in the larger area surrounding Corning.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Corning.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Corning:

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Corning) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Corning, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.