WHITE MILLS — A part of Wayne County’s industrial history is coming back as a museum.
The Dorflinger Glass Factory in White Mills stopped making glass back in the 1920s.
Nearly a century has gone by since the last piece of cut-glass came out of the factory along Route 6 in White Mills.
All these years later, the Dorflinger Glass Works factory and the adjacent office building serve as museums, preserving the history of the company that even supplied the White House with its fine tableware.
“This was one of the largest glass companies of its kind, employing more than 650 people at the peak of its operations. It was a wonderful example of the Industrial Revolution in America,” said owner Jim Asselstine.
Asselstine bought the property a number of years ago and has been working to restore it to what it was when Dorflinger was in its hey-day. The showroom is full of glass from the mid-1800s up until the company shut down.
“They’re the only two buildings left, but they were really the gems. Our plan eight years ago was to restore these two buildings and to ultimately now open a museum dedicated to focusing on how the glass was made and history of the company,” said Asselstine.
By the time C. Dorflinger and Sons closed in the early 1920s, the factory had employed hundreds of people in the White Mills area. Now the new owners are turning it back into the cutting shop to see how it operated all those years ago.
Sally Talaga, former executive director of the Wayne County Historical Society, is fixing up one of the homes of the former Dorflinger employees near the factory and said new life in the factory museum is wonderful to see.
“I’m delighted now as a resident of white mills that there`s someone who cares and will really make it look nice,” Talaga said.
Next year marks the 150th anniversary of the factory in White Mills and work to restore the cutting shop is expected to be complete by then.
