I initially became intrigued with KCGW insulators while at one of the last insulator shows held in Columbia City, Indiana, May, 1991. There was a display titled "Indiana Insulators" and there I closely observed KCGW insulators for the first time. I was intrigued because I wasn't aware of any other Indiana-produced insulators besides Hemingray. So, being a Hoosier and always attracted to things out of the mainstream of collectibles, I was ready to learn more about King City Glass Works and its products. I began to learn more in bits and pieces from other collectors, but it wasn't until Bob Stahr researched Sanborn maps and Dick Roller's "Indiana Glass Factories Notes" to find the factory location, that I became very interested. 

One fall day approximately three years ago while traveling with Bob to visit the old Hemingray factory site in Muncie, we stopped in Fairmount to see if the King City Glass Works factory location shown on maps could be verified. We found the location but instead of finding a factory building, we found an auto storage yard for wrecked cars. There were remnants of old buildings but all were fenced in and inaccessible. As we walked around the fence, we found shards of green and aqua glass and cullet where the ground had been dug for postholes. I made a note of the business name on the fence for future reference, hoping for an opportunity to dig there.

The following spring, I contacted the owners of the property and received permission to dig around the wrecked cars stored inside the fenced area. The first dig was exciting! Bob, fellow Muncie-diggers Darin Cochrin and Roger Lucas, and I joined forces. We made speculation holes in several places but at first found mainly building and furnace bricks and sand (a good start!) and Mason jar shards marked "The Marion Jar". Research had indicated that King City Glass Works had been sold to The Marion Fruit Jar and Bottle Company in 1897, so we were hopeful. It wasn't long before Darrin and Bob each found shards of insulators (KCGW CD 120) and we knew we had found the factory site for certain.

I returned many times after that (the others focused on the Hemingray factory site in Muncie) and each exciting time I found more shards of insulators, fruit jars, and catsup bottles (the site was also a Snider catsup bottling plant after 1907). I dug other artifacts including fruit jar blow tops, blow pipe "shells", furnace lining, glass worker's tools, bottle and jar lids, gas jets and coal. While on the site, I sometimes referred to Sanborn maps of the factory to determine where the tank furnace, annealing lehrs, grinding shop, mixing shed, and warehouse had been located. There is not much of the property which has not by now been investigated, except under a few wrecked vehicles which never seem to get removed to be recycled and a large concrete slab area where the main building of the Snider plant once stood (it was destroyed by fire mid 1940's). Most of the shards found are quite small, and I suspect that they were part of the cullet pile near the mixing area of the factory. Evidence seems to indicate that they were spread around and buried under an average of ten inches of soil when an old railroad siding spur at the loading dock was removed or when the property was leveled. 

Most recently I have focused on sorting the artifacts that I have collected. By carefully examining shape, color and embossing (or blotted-out embossings) I have been able to authenticate many KCGW and KCGCo styles and some that were suspected, but never before proven to be KCGW-produced. At this point in my research, it appears the following CD's were produced there: 102.3, 106, 120, 124, 133.3, 134, 145, 151, 160, 162, 163.2, 164, and 1104. Colors range from ice blue to ice green, green aqua to dark aqua, and even some near clear and celery green. There is more to be discovered and some questions still unanswered. One major unknown is the exact location of the factory that produced the KCGCo. CD 164 insulator that has the word "PERU" on the rear skirt. 

Only blot out embossings of that insulator have been dug in Fairmount. It is possible that embossed ones were produced in nearby Peru, Indiana. Another mystery is why there are so many "blot-out" styles. Is it possible that Marion Fruit Jar and Bottle Co. continued to produce insulators after they purchased the factory from KCGW's owners and blotted out the KCGW name? 

King City Glass Works was established in 1890 and sold in 1897. It was listed in a business directory around that period as being a producer of electrical supplies, insulators and battery jars. I have found no evidence of anything other than insulators produced by KCGW either by exploration at the factory site or in collecting and researching KCGW insulators. No advertisements or factory photos have been located. But contacts have been made with living relatives of one of the founders and much personal history of both owners has been assembled, including photographs; material for another article, another time.

One of Arlen's "speculation" holes, working around junk 
cars stored on the property nowadays.
Site Photos by Bob Stahr

(Editor's Note: Crown Jewels will publish Arlen's article on historical information regarding the King City Glass Works in the October issue.)

102.3 No Name-KCGW  Vertical bar shard	106 No Name-KCGW  Skirt shard	120 KCGW-back  Rear number shard
124 No Name-KCGW  Dome fragment	133.3 No Name-KCGW  Vertical bar shard	134 KCGW  KCGW Blot-out 134 dot shard
145 KCGW  Skirt shard w/letters & Dome fragment	151 No Name-KCGW  Vertical bar shard & Dome	160 No Name-KCGW  Vertical bar shard
162 KCGW  Skirt shard w/letters	163.2 No Name-KCGW  skirt fragment	164 No Name-KCGW  KCGCo Blot-out 164 dot shard
1105 No Emb-KCGW  base fragment	MATCHING SHARDS TO CD'S  Produced by King City Glass Works Photos by Carol McDougald