Hartford City Glass Company

Hartford City Glass Company

Former type	Corporation
Industry	Glass manufacturing
Fate	Purchased
Successor	Plant No. 3 of American Window Glass Company
Founded	1890 (1890)
Founder	Richard Heagany
Defunct	1899 (facility continued to operate until 1929)
Headquarters	Hartford City, Indiana
Key people	Richard Heagany, J. R. Johnston
Products	window glass, chipped glass
Number of employees	600(1898)

Hartford City Glass Company was among the top three window glass manufacturers in the United States between 1890 and 1899, and continued to be one of the nation's largest after its acquisition. It was also the country's largest manufacturer of chipped glass, with capacity double that of its nearest competitor. The company's works was the first of eight glass plants that existed in Hartford City, Indiana during the Indiana Gas Boom. It became the city's largest manufacturer and employer, peaking with 600 employees.

Many of the skilled workers employed at the Hartford City Glass Company were from Belgium, at the time the world’s leading manufacturer of window glass. The Belgian workers and their families accounted for over one-third of Hartford City's population during the 1890s, and lived on the city's south side. Because of the importance of the French-speaking Belgians, one of the local newspapers featured articles in French.

In 1899, Hartford City Glass was acquired by the American Window Glass Company, which controlled 85 percent of the American window glass manufacturing capacity. During the next decade, the company began replacing its skilled and well–paid Belgian glass blowers with machines and less-skilled machine operators. The company used the Hartford City plant to test and refine the new technology. Most of the Belgian glass workers left town.

During the 1920s, competitors developed new window glass production processes that eclipsed the American Window Glass technology, and the company lost its advantage. By the time the Great Depression struck, the Hartford City plant had closed.

During the late 1880s, the discovery of natural gas in Eaton, Indiana started an economic boom period in East Central Indiana. Manufacturers were lured to the region to take advantage of the low cost fuel. Blackford County, a small rural county located close to Eaton, had only 181 people working in manufacturing in 1880. By 1901, the county had over 1,100 people employed at manufacturing plants in small communities such as Hartford City, Indiana. Between 1880 and 1900, populations doubled in area counties such as Blackford, Delaware, and Grant. The region became Indiana’s major manufacturing center.