Christian Dorflinger, born in Alsace, France, in 1828, was the father of the glass industry in Wayne County, PA. Starting at the age of 10, Dorflinger learned the fundamentals of glass-making in France. At the end of his apprenticeship, he came to America, where, after a brief period of working for others, he became the owner of two factories in Brooklyn, NY. At the age of 35, he was already a success in his new country. In 1865, he expanded his operations to White Mills, PA, where he opened a large factory complex that supplied glassware to six presidents of the United States, from Abraham Lincoln through John F. Kennedy, and spearheaded the growth of the industry in Wayne County. Christian Dorflinger died in 1915, and the firm closed in 1921, but the glorious history of the glass industry in White Mills has not been forgotten. The tiny town is now the home to several attractions based on the Dorflinger years: The Dorflinger-Suydam Wildlife Sanctuary and Glass Museum, the Dorflinger Glass Worker’s House, the D&H Canal Lock Tender’s House, and the latest must-see attraction, the Dorflinger Factory Museum.

Photo from the collection of the Dorflinger-Suydam Wildlife Sanctuary, dorflinger.org.