Looking Back 10/12

ANN O'HARA
Posted 10/11/17

In 1865, Christian Dorflinger moved his family from New York City to White Mills, PA, where he built a glass factory. To operate the factory, he needed experienced workers and recruited seven highly …

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Looking Back 10/12

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In 1865, Christian Dorflinger moved his family from New York City to White Mills, PA, where he built a glass factory. To operate the factory, he needed experienced workers and recruited seven highly skilled workers from Saint Louis-les Bitche, France, who arrived in the United States in 1866. The workers needed places to live in tiny White Mills, and Dorflinger immediately began building workers’ houses for them, initially seven small, sloped roofed houses similar to the workers’ houses he knew in France.

Once these houses were completed, others were constructed, and by 1869, 33 houses had been erected to accommodate 182 employees and their families. Eventually the number of homes Dorflinger built for his employees was close to 100. The houses built in 1866 to 1867 for the families of skilled workers were modified in 1875, and in 2001, this house, the fifth in line of the original seven, was restored to its 1875 appearance. The Dorflinger Glassworker’s House offers tours on many dates from May to October on a schedule posted at dorflinger.org.

From the collection of the Wayne County Historical Society, 810 Main St., Honesdale. The museum and research library are open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a. m. to 4 p. m.

white mills, dorflinger

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