Glass-making
Information on the glass-making industry in Licking County and the associated industries
Heisey Glass
Mr. Augustus H. Heisey emigrated from Hanover, Germany at 1 year of age to Pennsylvania. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War (155th Pennsylvania Infantry). He founded A.H. Heisey & Company in 1895 and chose Newark, Ohio for the plant’s site due to the availability of natural gas and cheap labor. The factory was built on the old Penny Farm on the east side of Newark, currently the site of the Holophane plant. Production began in April 1896 and Heisey’s slogan was “The finest glassware in America.” During it’s time of peak production (around 1920) the plant employed 700 workers who belonged to the American Flint Glass Worker’s Union. When Mr. A.H. Heisey died in 1922 his son E. Wilson Heisey took over the company and began the production of colored glass. The colored glass includes Moongleam (green) and Flamingo (rose-pink) which are two of the most popular colors. The Heisey animal figurines began with the horsehead bookends in 1935. In 1942 when E. Wilson died, another son T. Clarence assumed control until 1957. The plant closed for its’ usual Christmas holiday in 1957 and surprisingly never reopened due to foreign competition, spiraling costs, and lack of skilled help.
Holophane
Utica Glass Company
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