HORNELL — A part of the City of Hornell's history passed on Thursday with very little notice.

March 2, 1888 is Hornell's Incorporation Day, when the Village of Hornellsville became the City of Hornellsville.

The day lives in obscurity because the city's officially recognized birthday is often celebrated in July, when the incorporation of the Village of Hornellsville took place on June 28, 1852. The city's official centennial celebration was held in July 1951.

Other important dates include 1790, when the first known white settler Benjamin Crosby and his family came to Hornell and built a home where St. James Mercy Hospital now stands; April 1, 1820, when Hornellsville was first incorporated into a Town; and 1906 when the city got it's current name "Hornell", according to a timeline assembled by the City's Historian.

While there is as clear identity crisis going on with the age of the place we call home, the several dates serve as milestones of growth and prosperity in the settlements earlier days.

Thursday was noted by one entity, the Steuben County Historical Society, whose Facebook page celebrated the City of Hornellsville's incorporation.

"Hooray for the City of Hornell, incorporated March 2, 1888. Starting life as an unincorporated settlement named Hornellsville, the place started to grow and prosper with the advent of the Erie Railroad, running through the Southern Tier in parallel with the Erie Canal. Establishment of the Erie main repair shops guaranteed that the economy would jingle, rumble, and roar. Hamlet, Village, and City were all called Hornellsville (like the surrounding Town) until 1906, when the name City of Hornell was adopted. George Hornell was an early landowner," the post noted.

By 1888, Hornellsville was a city of nearly 11,000 souls. on track to reach 20,000, prompting local leaders to charter it as a city. In addition to the success of the railroad, Hornell was becoming known as the "City of Silk" nationwide for its network of mills, producing at a rate second only to Patterson, N.J.

In 1906, it was high time for another change, according to area students.

"There was a movement by a group of Hornell High School students, who petitioned the Common Council to drop the —ville from the name," Hornell Mayor Shawn Hogan said.

Since then, the name and designation as a city has remained the same, and that's a good thing, as several sources of state aid depend upon it.

"We get aid on a per-capita basis, and we're a full-service city so we get more aid, and when sales tax came into being in the 60s, we were able to preempt the sales tax because of our status as a city. That's made a tremendous difference for the City of Hornell," Hogan said.

Contrary to popular belief, the status is not based on population, but the kinds of services that are mandated, and provided by the municipality.

"A lot of people think that if you don't have a population of 10,000 or more that you can't be a city. That's not true," Hogan said.

The City of Sherill, NY outside of Utica has a population that hovers around 2,500. So, Hornell has never been in any danger of losing its status as a city.

Being, and remaining a city also holds a point of pride. There are only 62 cities in New York State, and "people look at you as a population center," Hogan said, breeding several economic advantages over neighboring towns, villages and hamlets.