Site of Knox Glass Company Plant

The Palestine plant was a branch of the Knox Glass Bottle Company, which Wikipedia says began in Knox, Pennsylvania, and operated from 1917 to 1968, buying 16 other glassmaking companies or plants. Roy Underwood is named as its founder. Collectors identify the company's bottles by mould numbers and a letter-in-a-keystone mark on the base, but Palestine's plant used a T-in-a-keystone. A 1956 Mississippi Supreme Court case between the company and a former executive is cited as the first in that state to define a director's fiduciary duties in detail. Glass Container Corporation acquired the company in 1968.

What the plaque says

Site of Knox Glass Company Plant In 1941, Chester Underwood of Pennsylvania-based Knox Glass Bottle Co. called Jim Keller, a company representative in Texas, with plans for a new plant. Product demand in the western United States for bottling and canning operations had increased, and Underwood asked Keller to scout locations for a plant with good rail access. Keller met with the Palestine Chamber of Commerce and banker Clifford Huffsmith, who in turn worked with bankers Clyde Hanks, J.E. Angly and others to identify area resources, including transportation. The final deal included natural gas provided by brothers Julian and Jack Meeker, and a Missouri Pacific Railroad spur to the plant site. The new facility began production on July 5, 1941. It housed a 90-ton-capacity furnace and equipment for manufacturing clear glass; Frank Hicks served as plant manager for 10 years. Company officials and area residents celebrated with a formal dedication on July 19. Employees belonged to unions related to their jobs, which varied from mixing and machine operations to mold makers and packing. Products included glass jars for the food industry and home bottling. The Knox plant played a vital role in the local economy for decades, with more than 450 employees at its peak. Glass Container Corp. purchased Knox Glass in 1969, but demands of a changing industry led to closure of the plant in 1984. The final glass jars manufactured here, bearing the closing date, Dec. 20, 1984, serve as souvenirs for three generations of area residents for whom the Knox plant represented a secure way of life. (2006)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Texas State Railroad Excursion Train — 5.1 mi
  A round trip of about 25 miles of track between the Palestine and Rusk depots through the Piney Woods, on a line built by prison labor and reopened as a tourist railroad in 1976.

More markers nearby

• Fort Houston — steps away
• Fort Houston Cemetery — 1.0 mi
• South Union Missionary Baptist Church — 1.5 mi
• Christopher Columbus Rogers — 1.7 mi