When southwestern
Ontario's lumber industry
began to decline at the end
of the nineteenth century,
many communities scrambled to
find other viable business
options. In Wallaceburg, a
local ship owner who had
grown up in Bristol, the
British centre of glass

manufacturing, suggested
using large local sand
deposits to start a glass
industry. Town fathers seized
upon Captain William Taylor's
idea enthusiastically. Even
though it was eventually
discovered that the sand was
unsuitable for glass
manufacturing, the community

rallied around the idea of a
glass factory with
overwhelming financial
support. People of means
invested large sums of
capital and citizens of more
humble origins often invested
more than they could afford.
   Construction of the
glassmaking factory began in

1894 and production began in
1895. The factory overcame a
number of early setbacks due
to furnace fires and by the
early twentieth century it
was considered one of the
most successful glass
companies in Canada. Highly
skilled glassblowers in the
factory made a multitude of