Dunkirk
A town built on glass
Established in 1907, the Indiana Glass Company first ventured beyond car glass into making items for soda fountains, restaurant and crystal ware. In the 1920s, adding color to their glassware, they continued to make best selling handmade and machine made glassware including such popular Depression Glass such as Avocado, Tearoom, Sandwich, Pyramid, #612 Horseshoe and Indiana Custard.
The company, which had the tagline of Carnival Glass Heaven, is also thought to be the longest producer of "Goofus Glass," an extremely inexpensive way to make colored, decorative glass. They closed in 2002.
Those following the Indiana Glass Trail should also visit The Glass Museum, located in what was once a Carnegie Library built in 1917 and is owned and operated by the Dunkirk Public Library. The museum features more than 8000 pieces of glass from 110 factories around the world and included leaded glass windows, hanging lamps and hundreds of hand-blown and hand-press glass pieces.
The museum also highlights Dunkirk's glass history since gas was discovered here in 1896 and dozens of glass houses sprang into business. According to the museum's Website, many one-of-a-kind glass items including Depression Glass, Albany Glass, Fostoria and Kings Crown were made at the Indiana Glass Company.