National Heisey Glass Museum

For over 60 years, A.H. Heisey and Company made high-quality and artistic glass pieces before the factory closed in 1957. A club of collectors established this museum just 14 years later and donated many pieces to tell the story of the company.

Augustus Henry Heisey founded the company that bore his name in 1895. Garnering a reputation for its quality and sharpness, the Heisey company also advertised his glass in national publications. Lines of colored glass popular during the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression were also manufactured, including their Alexandrite line of light purple that can change color depending on the light source. These pieces can command hundreds of dollars on the open market today. Artistic figurines of animals were also popular specimens. 

The Heisey company would later face pressures from cheaper glassware from abroad as well as the rise of plastic and aluminum for containers. The Heisey factory was closed in December 1957, and the Imperial Glass Company would buy the molds and resurrect some of the Heisey lines, but it folded in 1984.

The story of Heisey Glass lives on through the efforts of the Heisey Collectors of America. They founded the museum in 1971 and donated many of the colorful, ornate, and historic pieces on display today.