The gas boom impacted not just the economy of east-central Indiana, but also the communities and even the landscape. People followed the jobs and money. As the city of Kokomo more than doubled in population, community leaders began to look for ways…

The Gas Boom of the late 1800s kicked off a population explosion, bringing people of all skills, social backgrounds and educational levels into the area. They arrived with new ideas and ways of thinking. One such person was Elwood Haynes. Haynes…

The gas boom was led by energy-intensive manufacturers including glass companies. Glass plants popped up by the dozens in the region, making everything from window glass to stained glass to dinnerware and art glass items. For a time in the 1890s,…

Beautiful glass has an almost inexplicable magical quality whether it’s a bowl, a sculpture, or a window. The way glass seems to capture the sun holds our attention. Making it though is a dangerous, energy-intensive process. Commercial glass…

Construction of the Mansion - 1889 Monroe Seiberling used the wealth earned from the Diamond Plate Glass Company to build himself a beautiful house. Construction of Seiberling’s spacious home began in 1889. The mansion reportedly cost $50,000 –…

The Gas Boom brought about an economic revolution in Indiana during the late 1800s. The Diamond Plate Glass Company played a pivotal role in those changes. When a huge natural gas reservoir was discovered under east-central Indiana, local…

The use of natural gas as fuel goes back to the 1820s, but its real value didn’t become apparent until the 1880s. The discovery of a gas reserve in Pennsylvania revolutionized the steel and glass manufacturing industries there in the 1870s and…