
Civic Pride and History
I love my job. I am fortunate to be able to serve two counties and six cities. Each community in the 17 Judicial District has its own celebrated history and traditions going back many years and I am always intrigued when I learn something new about each one. For example, Corning was not the first name of the city. The original settlement was approximately one mile east and was called Hecht City, named for brothers Levi and Solomon Hecht, who operated a lumber mill on Black River. Hecht City moved to the present site of Corning in 1871, when the Cairo and Fulton Railroad surveyed the land for the proposed route. The railroad through the settlement was completed by 1872. On February 5, 1873, the name was changed from Hecht City to Corning, in honor of H. D. Corning, an engineer with the railroad.