Glass Heritage Gallery

Glass Heritage Gallery. Fostoria Ohio Glass Association. A museum for the glass made in the twelve glass plants in Fostoria, Ohio during the period 1887 – 1920 , There were 13 different glass companies in Fostoria, Ohio during the years 1887-1920. During the boom years of 1887 through about 1892, there were around seven or eight plants operating in Fostoria at one time. , The earliest plants were brought to Fostoria because of the large amounts of natural gas that had been discovered in the area. Because of Fostoria's five major railroads and access to free gas, investors found the city an ideal location to build glass plants. The investors and workers from West Virginia and Pennsylvania along with people from other glass areas abroad came to settle in Fostoria and while here, to manufacture some of the most beautiful glass ever made in America. , The Glass Heritage Gallery has chosen to specialize in ten of the companies that made glass in Fostoria. (Some of the other plants' specialties are not represented as some were window glass manufacturers, and some made ordinary bottles.) Key pieces are included from: , The Fostoria Glass Company began in Fostoria in 1887 and upon indications of a depleting natural gas supply, left this community December 31, 1891. Even though the Fostoria Glass Company was in the city of its birth only a few years, the owners felt that the quality of the glass and its nationwide reputation made the name "Fostoria” the company's most valued asset. , The Nickel Plate Glass Company, named for one of Fostoria's many railroads, was most imaginative in making colored glass, particularly opalescent glass in unusual patterns. They made beautiful kerosene lamps in sweeping, alternating clear-to-opal patterns. This firm had terminal problems when the natural gas supply slowed, as did business conditions with the Panic of 1893. , The Fostoria Shade and Lamp Co. was the maker of the most colorful glass in Fostoria, if not America in 1890 and changed their name to Consolidated Lamp and Glass Company in 1893. The firm made every type of lamp imaginable. It was said that at one time it made 60% of the lamps in the United States while in Fostoria. Consolidated made tableware of every type and description. They were especially adept at "cased", more than one layer of glass in a single piece. , Mosaic Glass Company was noted for its glass tiles. Many of these tiles can be found in windows, transoms and doors in old homes in Fostoria today. You can see examples of these in the Gallery. , The Fostoria Glass Specialty Company was in Fostoria from just before the turn of the century until 1914. The most colorful period, 1910-1914, was when General Electric owned the local specialty plants and made Tiffany-type glass. Some of the glass in the Gallery is so well made that it is indistinguishable from the Art Nouveau products not only of Tiffany, but also of Quezal, Steben and others made contemporaneously by the Fostoria Glass Specialty Company.