Indiana's Glass-Sand Industry (HI-06)
Indiana's glass industry was established by the mid-19th century. Most of the raw materials were obtained locally. There were a few widely scattered factories in the state; one of the largest glassworks in the United States - the Star Plate Glassworks Co. - was in New Albany.

Major expansion occurred after 1886, when low-cost fuel became available in the Trenton gas field of east-central Indiana. By 1905, 71 Hoosier factories produced about one-third of the glass in the United States.

During the early 1900's, the glass industry adopted stringent specifications, which disqualified most Hoosier sand deposits. About 99 percent of the raw sand had to be imported. This and exhaustion of the natural gas supply ended Indiana's glass-sand industry.

Our Hoosier State Beneath Us: Historical