The Pittsburgh Glass Plate Company

The Pittsburgh Glass Plate Company. . , In 1888 the plant of the Ford City Plate Glass Company was completed and the town of Ford City had been established. A year later, the successfully managed Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company began operations at the Ford City site and it became known as Works Three. During the same year construction of another plant at Ford City was started by Pittsburgh Plate. This plant was known as Works Four., In 1931, Works Six of Charleroi, PA was moved to Ford City and became Ford City Works Six. This plant was built adjacent to Works Four, and together they constituted the world's largest plate glass plant. Workers entered Works Six using the under-the-railroad tracks tunnel that still stands at the intersection of Third Avenue and Ninth Street., By 1940, complete mechanization of plate glass was achieved at Works Four with the installation of a continuous tank. In addition to plate glass manufacture, Works Four had a modern mirror production line and complete facilities for bending and tempering., Production continued at a high rate throughout the 1950s and 1960s, but started to taper down as the years went by. PPG in Ford City finally closed its doors in 1993., (Captions):, Birdseye view of Ford city PPG, The Great Fire at PPG May 1910, Works Four, Silica Sand Pile used in the glass making process. Located just south of the bridge, Works Five before Works Six was added in 1931, Works Six showing four sets of railroad tracks, Original PPG Office Building. Notice that the railroad tracks were, then, at street level., Works Six under-the railroad tracks entrance Tunnel, The "new" PPG Office Building. Built in 1938, Continuous Glass Rolling Process, Photos are courtesy of Bill Oleksak and Larry Vorpe