Little Joe Tower | |
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General information | |
Town or city | Corning, New York |
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 42°08′42.9108″N77°03′27.738″W / 42.145253000°N 77.05770500°W |
Completed | 1912 or 1913 |
Owner | Corning Inc. |
Height | 187 feet (57 m) |
Little Joe Tower is a landmark structure in Corning, New York, United States.
The tower was built in either 1912 [1] [2] or 1913 [3] [4] by Corning Glass Works (now known as Corning Incorporated). The construction came during a period of growth for the company, and the 187-foot (57 m) tower was used in drawing glass for thermometer tubes. [1] [2] To create the thermometers, in a process known as "vertical draw", the heated glass was pulled up the length of the tower using a cable, to form a continuous tube that was later cooled and cut to required sizes. [5] By the 1940s, advancements in drawing technology reduced the use of the tower, [1] and in June 1973, the tower was decommissioned. [2] However, the company continues to maintain the building, which the Star-Gazette claims is "the Corning area's best known landmark". [6]
On the outside of the white tower is a blue stenciled silhouette of "Little Joe", a glassblower, giving the tower its name. [3] [4] The symbol of the gaffer, or glassblower, was originally created in 1880 from a sketch made by an itinerant painter who has visited a glass factory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [5] The symbol has undergone various modifications over time, and has become a Corning Inc. trademark. [5]
In 1999, the tower was repainted, and in 2015, the tower experienced a renovation that began in May and ended in August. [2]
A thermometer is a device that measures temperature or temperature gradient. A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor in which some change occurs with a change in temperature; and (2) some means of converting this change into a numerical value. Thermometers are widely used in technology and industry to monitor processes, in meteorology, in medicine, and in scientific research.
The mercury-in-glass or mercury thermometer is a thermometer that uses the thermal expansion and contraction of liquid mercury to indicate the temperature.
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Corning is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States, on the Chemung River. The population was 10,551 at the 2020 census. It is named for Erastus Corning, an Albany financier and railroad executive who was an investor in the company that developed the community. The city is best known as the headquarters of Fortune 500 company Corning Incorporated, formerly Corning Glass Works, a manufacturer of glass and ceramic products for industrial, scientific and technical uses. Corning is roughly equidistant from New York City and Toronto, being about 220 miles (350 km) from both.
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Mambourg Glass Company was a window glass manufacturer that began production on October 26, 1887. The company was the first of thirteen glass manufacturers located in Fostoria, Ohio, in the United States, during northwest Ohio's gas boom. The plant was managed by Leopold Mambourg, a Belgian immigrant and experienced glassmaker. Much of the company's work force was also from Belgium. Former Ohio governor Charles Foster was president of the company and a major financial backer. He was also a major investor in other businesses and two additional Fostoria window glass companies: the Calcine Glass Company and the Crocker Glass Company. Mambourg was the chief operating officer for all three of Foster's window glass companies.
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