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 free time. The factory closed in 1840 due to "the unreliableness of the foreman" who had likely come from the nearby Redwood Glass Factory in New York. Virtually nothing remains today of the factory. However, the extremely rare remaining pieces of glassware are priceless.
[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
this page online
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. It 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. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1514 County Road 2, Mallorytown ON K0E 1R0, Canada. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Eastern Ontario and specifically in Southeastern Ontario. It is also in Central Canada. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony, the Viceroyalty of New France, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, and Ruperts Land.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 kilometers of this marker, measured as the
Also see . . . A Priceless Treasure Lost to Time: The Mallorytown Glassworks. (Submitted on October 20, 2019, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)
Credits. This page was last revised on November 3, 2020. It was originally submitted on October 20, 2019, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 496 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 20, 2019, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
