Contributed by Teresa Douglass, Genealogy Specialist
Harrison County’s glass history dates back to 1925, when the Co-operative Enterprise Glass Company of North Vernon, Indiana, relocated its plant to Corydon. The company produced hand-blown kerosene lamp chimneys that were sold throughout the U.S. and abroad. The plant, south of Indian Creek, employed about 200 men and produced 1,500 to 2,000 lamps daily.
Demand for lamp chimneys dwindled as electricity became more readily available and affordable, and World War II, coupled with rising automation in manufacturing, made the market for hand-blown chimneys obsolete. By 1941, the Co-operative Enterprise Glass Company in Corydon was one of only three companies left in the United States that made lamp chimneys exclusively. The Co-operative Enterprise Glass Company closed its doors in 1948 after twenty-three years in Corydon.
Fortunately, one of the company’s employees, Victor Zimmerman, used his glass-blowing skills to start a new business making hand-blown glass novelties instead of lamp chimneys. Over four generations, the Zimmerman family evolved that business into what is now Zimmerman Art Glass.
The following newspaper articles, published in 1925, detail the Glass Company’s arrival and development in Corydon.
The Corydon Republican, April 9, 1925
The Corydon Democrat, May 13, 1925
The Corydon Democrat, July 8, 1925
