Another Cornell

Cornell staff member and Cornell trivia aficionado, Corey Ryan Earle '07 sent me an email (on my birthday) noting another Cornell – this one in California. He received a newspaper clipping (maybe circa 1900) which he deciphered below.

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MAN OF MANY HONORS

Mayor of Cornell, Postmaster, Deputy Sheriff, Justice of Peace, 

and a Few Other Things.

For the present Nathan Wise, founder and Mayor of the town of Cornell, in 

the Santa Monica Mountains, fifty-three miles from Los Angeles and fifteen 

miles from a railroad, will accept no more honors. 

Wise, who is at the [?], is postmaster of Cornell, Deputy Sheriff, treasurer 

of the Cornell [?] Improvement Association, justice of the peace and volunteer 

fireman, and was Santa Claus at the Christmas tree entertainment. Recently 

he was asked to become a member of the board of school trustees, but declined 

with thanks. 

Wise founded the town two years ago, immediately after an artesian well of 

hot mineral water was struck on the property of the [Ramera?] Oil Company. 

The settlement was named after Cornell University. It now has a population 

of forty families.

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The precise location is a Town of Cornell south of Agoura Hills (and north of Malibu). Anice neighborhood. When there you can stop off at Cornell's Old Place Restaurant or the Cornell Winery. I imagine the drive down Cornell Road between the Ventura and Mulholland Highways is as scenic as the hills of the Finger Lakes.

I’ll continue to pursue this lead. I have yet to discover Nathan Wise’s connection to Cornell University that would inspire him to name the town for Cornell.

And while I have not performed an exhaustive search for all Cornell names on the planet there is a planet (ok, astroid) named for Cornell.