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1998 Hemingray Dump Trip Journal & Photos by Christian Willis.

This journal was written on Sunday, August 9, 1998. (Day 9 of trip.)

Left the Plaza Motel around 7:30 A.M. and met Bob at his house, where we wet off to Muncie, IN. Stopped on the way to see the alleged remains of K.C.G.W. plant, now a scrap & body shop. Found a few shards of jars around the perimeter of the fence. Probably left from when the company after K.C.G.W. (name unknown) took over.

Arriving at Muncie, we stopped and ate at the Bob Evans Restaurant. From there we drove to Robert Hemingray's house, currently under remodeling. From there we arrived at the Hemingray Glass Co. factory site. We parked the vehicles in back by the old church in the back of the site, and Bob took us on a tour of the grounds (that we could access). Apparently the buildings are now used as storehouses for old vehicle batteries, possibly for recycling. We were able to view the inside of the building that houses "B" furnace, but the "A" furnace building was secure. We saw the inside of the sand tower and I thought briefly of climbing it, but decided that probably wasn't a good idea.

From there we walked back to the open lot out near oil tanks Nos. 11 and 12. I observed the valve houses of each of the oil tanks, and discovered the metal tag labels still attached to the piping, which I "liberated." (The tag styles are identical to the ones Bob "liberated" from the "B" furnace.) We began digging out in front of oil tank No.12 where he thought he had left off the last time he was there. We dug down a good two feet and stopped, moving over five feet or so towards oil tank No. 11, where we started a new hole. This is where he had left off last time, as evident by the amount of bricks we hit. We found shards of bottles and an occasional Hemi-42 shard. We returned to the original hole and continued, where we began hitting chunks of golden amber glass with an occasional piece of a CD 162 Hemi-19 with color to match.

We took a break and drove to a store to get drinks, then drove to "Off Broadway Antiques" where we antiqued. We returned to the plant and continued that hole, which yielded a few surprises: the bottom of a champagne glass with a matching mold to Bob's (which he kept), the bottom portion of a "Big Boy" bottle, which confirmed Bob's theory of Hemingray producing them (which he kept also), and a whole bottle! He let me keep the bottle, embossed "Fidelio Brewery, New York." I found a few more pieces of amber signals, and aqua glass chunks.

We covered up the holes at the end of the day, and he went to go pick up two glass blocks I had found in the pump room out next to Furnace "B". They were gone. Not a nice note to end the visit on. Either Sandi, the over-protective owner, or one of her henchmen took them. Bob learned that sometime in the near future they will be holding an auction to demolish oil tanks 11 & 12 and Furnace "B", so both Bob and I alike are glad we took those pipe tags when we did. I consider myself very fortunate to have visited and dug at the Muncie plant. The way things look, the area may not be accessible in the near future.

[Note: Later on during the trip, in an antique shop in St. James, MO, I found a Universal Home Bottle embossed "Uuiversal" for $4.00! Definitely my find of the trip. It is one of two currently known; Bob has the other one. If Bob hadn't pointed his out to me, I probably wouldn't have recognized it later on! Then again, if I hadn't gone on the trip to visit Bob, I wouldn't have even stopped at that antique shop at all! Both are scary thoughts!]

Robert Hemingray's house, seen here under renovation during our visit. Robert Hemingray's house, more renovation work. Bob Stahr and Bud Willis on left. Robert Hemingray's house, view from the corner. Robert Hemingray's house. Notice the difference between the refinished front and old back. Front office of the Hemingray Muncie site. Just look at all those Hemingray O-I glass blocks! View from the front of the Hemingray Muncie factory. Bob Stahr looks on as I sift through pieces of colorful Hemingray glass.
The stonework at the top of this office building is engraved with the Hemingray name. One of the several buildings of the plant. A view from the side of the factory grounds, bordering the railroad spur. Bob Stahr looks on at the deteriorating state of the factory. The valve housing for one of the oil tanks, from which I "liberated" the metal tags hanging from the pipes. The sand tower and an unknown building, both of which I believe have since been razed. Another view of the sand tower, with a good perspective of how overgrown the area is.
The sand tower is one of the most massive landmarks on the factory grounds. Just to give you an idea of size of the circumference of the sand tower. Directly inside those double doors were a neat pair of old weighing scales. Pulling off this shot was very difficult. It was taken through a crack in one of the window slats. Seen here is the "B" Furnace. Notice the piles of used car batteries the buildings now store. Another shot inside the "B" Furnace building. Furnace in background. Oil Tanks 11 and 12, slated to be demolished later that year.
Bob Stahr shows me a piece of Hemingray glass. The hole we dug, the bucket of Hemingray glass, and a whole Fidelio Brewery bottle. Bob Stahr digs a fragment of a "Big Boy" bottle, confirming his theory of Hemingray producing them. Bob and Christian in front of just a fraction of Bob's huge collection of Hemingray glass. Shaun Kotlarsky and Christian beside a portion of Shaun's impressive collections. Shaun Kotlarsky and Christian beside a portion of Shaun's impressive collections.