I-69 Heritage Corridor - Madison County
DeKalb Cty -- Coney
-- Hochstettler
-- Houser
-- Minard
-- Myers
-- Placencia
-- Riser
-- Waterloo jam session
-- Sarasien
-- Sechler
-- Stackhouse
-- Rowe
Grant Cty -- Adkins
-- Butler
-- Petro
-- Neuhouser
-- Garage pickers
-- Cox
-- Hoke
-- Cash
-- Powers
Hamilton Cty -- Bundy
-- Davis
-- Day
-- Gordon
-- Cricket players
-- Dr. Bomie Han
-- Gerald Terry
-- Bobbie Kauffman
Delaware Cty -- Jackson
-- Doris Jean Coil
-- Ronald Davis
-- John Zile
-- Ken Shipley
-- Atchade
-- Roberts
Allen Cty -- Mowry
-- Zehner
-- Bozarth
-- Cynar
-- Lengacher
-- Gorman
-- Hollman
-- Patria Smith
-- Penny Myers
-- Rugsaken
Madison Cty -- Spencer
-- Joe Rice
-- Theoharris
-- Carol Ball
-- Greg Adams
Huntington Cty -- Enyeart
-- Glessner
-- Alice Stickler
-- Company Singers
-- Dick Hinton
-- Goldenberg
-- Jay Peters
-- Gil Shideler
Henry Cty -- Bennett
Joe Rice forming glass paperweights in his workshop
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Photo by Jon Kay
Joe Rice -- Glass worker
Three generations of Joe Rice’s family have built glass in Elwood, Indiana. He explains, “I think the people in Elwood have come to expect glass.”
Rice continues to work in his grandfather John St Clair’s style, which is highly collectible. With his crew, Rice produces distinctive floral pattern paperweights in his factory, The House of Glass.
Glass is flexible, Rice says, but “very difficult to work – it requires some technique.” Because each paperweight is made by hand, “no two are exactly alike.” This variety is part of the product’s beauty.
But Rice feels there is skill in making them similar. Their paperweights vary less than an ounce in weight.
Joe Rice’s passion for his art is clear: “I have done what I have done because I enjoyed it. The biggest benefit for me has not been the notoriety or the money, success, or any of those things; it’s been being able to see the enjoyment in people’s eyes that take the product home.”