Image
Plant #4, and Shop # 2 and #6 of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Works, Ford City, PA, circa 1940.
Credit: Ford City Public Library
Established in 1883 by John Pitcairn and "Captain" John Baptiste Ford, who owned and operated a fleet of riverboats along the Ohio River during the Civil War, the Pittsburgh Plate Glass became the nation's largest producer of plate glass. At their peak, the company plants at Ford City employed as many as 5,000 workers.