inventory · questions · updated 2026-07-26
Was there really an Owens-Illinois plant at Palestine, Texas?
question active p3
Michael David Smith's 1989 book identifies a Palestine, Texas glass plant as an Owens-Illinois operation; the SHA/Bottle Research Group's Owens-Illinois plant register lists no Palestine plant, and no Texas O-I plant at all before Waco opened in 1944. The discrepancy bears on the folklore that a local Owens-Illinois factory undercut Three Rivers Glass — which the 1944 Waco date makes anachronistic.
Next action: Locate the exact Smith 1989 passage; cross-check the SHA O-I plant register and Palestine local history.
questionowens-illinoisthree-rivers-glasspalestine-texastexas-glass-industry
The question
Smith’s 1989 Texas Glass calls a Palestine, TX glass plant an Owens-Illinois operation. The SHA/Bottle Research Group’s Owens-Illinois plant register lists no Palestine plant — and no Texas O-I plant before Waco (opened February 22, 1944). Which is right?
Why it matters
Three Rivers folklore holds that a large local Owens-Illinois factory undercut the little glasshouse. On the plant record that framing is anachronistic — Waco is a 1944 phenomenon, six years after Three Rivers closed. A real Palestine O-I plant in the 1930s would change that picture. See Owens-Illinois and the Hoffmann-Hayman Crystalvac Jars and Ball Brothers Foreclosure and Antitrust Case.
What would resolve it
- Locate the exact Smith 1989 passage and what he claims (owner, dates).
- Cross-check the SHA O-I plant register and any Palestine, TX industrial/local history for a glass plant and its actual operator.
- Determine whether Smith meant a different company, a leased/short-lived operation, or an error.
Current best answer
Open discrepancy. The SHA register is the more systematic source and lists no Palestine O-I plant; Smith is the closest dedicated Three Rivers historian. Unreconciled.