This is the ultimate weekend getaway! Glass and glassmaking. Wine tastings and tours. Art, aviation, and history museums. Foliage and fishing. A single weekend doesn't begin to cover all the options Steuben County (pronounced "Steu-BEN") offers visitors!

Located in Western New York's Finger Lakes Region, just north of the Pennsylvania state line, the area offers metropolitan culture in the midst of an outdoor playground—so no matter what your interests are, Steuben County is likely to have something for you!

Steuben's history reflects its varied character. Colonial settlement of the area only began in earnest in the late 1780s, after the native Iroquois had been subjugated by the U.S. Army. Until the mid-1800s, lumbering was the major economic engine: sawmills sprang up around the county, as the name of one town, Gang Mills, still attests. But by that time, an extensive network of canals and railroads was helping to make the town of Corning into a bona fide commercial and industrial center. Corning's first major industry, of course, was glassmaking (led by Corning Glass Works), but for decades bricks and drills were two other mainstays. Up in Hammondsport, wine was being made well before the Civil War, and that industry has only continued to grow in the 150 years since.

Much of the old manufacturing base is gone now, but Corning Incorporated, the former Corning Glass Works, has moved into the high-tech realm of flat-panel displays and semiconductors and still helps anchor the local economy. Farming, meanwhile, continues to preserve much of Steuben's rural character, particularly in the northern and western parts of the county.

The renewed emphasis on regional tourism and restoration after a massive flood in 1972 is very much to a visitor's benefit—as you'll see when you begin to take in the sheer array of attractions and activities Steuben County presents. (Be sure not to miss a plaque at the Corning Museum of Glass showing the flood's high-water mark—you'll barely believe your eyes!) If you have questions, or simply want to learn more, the Steuben County Conference & Visitors Bureau (1-866-946-3386, toll-free) is a good place to start.