Canada's First Glassworks
1839
At only 20 years old, Amasa Whitney Mallory brashly started up Canada's first glassworks in a log structure about 2 km. west of Mallorytown. He had already successfully harvested lumber in the area for 2 years but was destined to achieve much more in his lifetime. A newspaper of 1879 described him as "a gentleman of great enterprise, ready at all times to embark in any speculation in which his shrewd intelligence discerns a profit". In fact he went on to run a general store, a harness & shoe shop, a black smithy, a farm, and a prize-winning cheese factory. And, while doing all that, he was continuously trading in livestock and real estate. 15 children knew him as a kind parent while the community knew him as a capable town councilor, roads master, school trustee, and Reeve.
The glass factory consumed local Potsdam sandstone, potash, and limestone as well as timber to fuel the furnaces. In the short time the factory was in operation window glass was never produced. However plates, bowls, jugs, pitchers, jars, and bottles fed the settlers' strong demand. Even some artful whimsy was created by the glass blowers in their
this page online
[Image captions, clockwise from top left, read]
• Mallorytown glass jug
• Detail of jug showing the characteristic bubbles in the glass
• Glassmaker's whimsey fork with one tine broken, 66 cm
• Cullet (waste glass)
• The Mallorytown Pitcher
• Dross (waste glass)
• A "gather" of glass being melted in the furnace (glory hole)
• Amasa Whitney Mallory (1819-1906)
• Gerald Stevens' 1953 sketch of what the factory likely resembled
Erected 2012 by Mallory Coach House Heritage Committee.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Man-Made Features • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1879.
Location. 44° 28.821′ N, 75° 52.533′ W. Marker is in Mallorytown, Ontario, in Leeds and Grenville United Counties. Marker is on County Highway 2 just south of Mallorytown Road (County Highway 5), on the left when traveling south. Marker is on the Mallory Coach House Museum and Archives grounds. Touch for map
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 10 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies. War Memorial (approx. 0.4 kilometers away); The “Remembrance Road” Memorial (approx. one kilometer away); Mallorytown Glass Works (approx. 1.7 kilometers away); The Macdonald Cartier Freeway (approx. 1.7 kilometers away); Chimney Island (Bridge Island) (approx. 3.1 kilometers away); a different marker also named The Macdonald Cartier Freeway (approx. 4.2 kilometers away); The Thousand Islands (approx. 8.3 kilometers away in the U.S.); Singer Castle on Dark Island (approx. 8.3 kilometers away in the U.S.). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Mallorytown.
Also see . . . A Priceless Treasure Lost to Time: The Mallorytown Glassworks. (Submitted on October 20, 2019, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.)
Credits. This page was last revised on November 3, 2020. It was originally submitted on October 20, 2019, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 308 times since then and 21 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 20, 2019, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
