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Detroit River into both Ford City and
Wyandotte. Each municipally assessed and taxed the chemical company differently. Certain necessary services and utilities readily available in Wyandotte were not available in Ford City. The Michigan Alkali Company had strongly sought tax relief and expanded utility services and suggested merging the two communities. Ford City and Wyandotte merged in 1922.
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296:) as the site for its Works No. 3 glass factory. The town was named in honor of the company founder, John Baptiste Ford. The factory employed as many as 5,000 workers in its heyday. PPG shut down its Ford City operations in the 1990s. The once largest employer in Armstrong County, Eljer Plumbing, shut down its Ford City plant in 2008.
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Ford's son Emory graduated in July 1864 from Duff's
Mercantile College upriver in Pittsburgh. Emory marveled at the many glass works in the city, and soon they set up a small glass factory in New Albany known as the New Albany Glass Works. The company produced bottles and jars. In 1867, the Fords
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Ford and his wife Mary had seven children. Their first child, Charles, died within nine months of birth. Their second child, John, died at 10 months. Their third child, Henry Ford, died when he was 15 years old. Their fourth child, a daughter, died aged 8. Their fifth child, Mary, only lived for
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Ford began as an apprentice with his future father-in-law in the local saddle shop which led him into his first business venture. In 1831 at age 20, Ford married his school teacher Mary Bower (25 years old). The couple had two children both born in
Greenville; Edward Ford (1843) and Emory Low Ford
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By the late 1850s, Ford realized he could not compete with the industrial iron giants located in the iron regions around
Pittsburgh, and he converted his factory into a shipyard to produce steamboats. Ford produced his own steamboat line and was addressed as "Captain Ford" by many of New Albany's
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On
December 11, 2017, the Town Council in Greenville, Indiana named a historic roadway after John Baptiste Ford. The roadway butts up to The Station Building which was originally built by Ford in the 1840s. The Station Building still stands today and is the oldest commercial building in town.
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In 1902, the village was named in honor of
Captain Ford, who at the time was President of the Michigan Alkali Company (now BASF Wyandotte) and prominent citizen in local affairs. All was not going well in Ford City during its years of growing. The Michigan Alkali Company had spread out along the
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Ford moved to New Albany in 1854 and opened a factory to manufacture feed-cutting boxes constructed of wood and iron. Needing a reliable source of iron for his box manufacturing business, Ford built his own rolling mill and foundry and eventually produced railroad and commercial iron products.
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The
Station building, the original building that housed the old mill, saddle shop and grocery, still stands today. Historically referred to as The Station (sometimes the Old Mill and Ford's Flour Mill), the Greenville Station is the oldest commercial building in Greenville. Construction on the
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In 1880, Ford left New Albany and opened the New York City Plate Glass
Company with a plant in Creighton, Pennsylvania. In 1883, the business was reorganized as the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company ("PPG"). PPG became the leading plate glass manufacturing facility in the country.
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had greatly expanded the factory and began to study the technology to produce plate glass, which until now was imported from Europe. In 1870, they had successfully mastered the technology and had the skilled workforce in place to produce the first plate glass in the United States.
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original wooden structure began in 1810 and finished in 1812. In 1840, Ford helped to erect the present brick structure. The
Station was a stop for the 104-mile stagecoach route that ran from Falls Cities to the Wabash River.
157:(1846). The couple operated a small dry goods store. Ford purchased The Station building which housed an old mill and saddle shop from its owner. He added a grocery and began making tin
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five days. Their sixth child, Edward Ford (1843–1920), and seventh child, Emory Low Ford (1846–1900), went on to work in the family business.
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Tired of disagreements with their business partners, Ford sold his interest in the company in 1897. He formed a new venture to the west near
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100:(November 17, 1811 – May 1, 1903) was an American industrialist and founder of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, now known as
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and never returned. His mother, Margaret, the daughter of Jean
Baptiste, an immigrant from France who had fought in the
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Pictured is a collection of steamboats produced by Captain John Baptiste Ford in New Albany, Indiana.
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residents. During the Civil War, many of Ford's boats were utilized by the Union forces.
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Salt of the Earth: The Story of Captain J. B. Ford and Michigan Alkali Company
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Ford's granddaughter, Eleanor "Sandy" Torrey West, died in 2021, aged 108.
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Pictured are Captain John B Ford and his wife Mary Bowers Ford, circa 1864.
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144:. He ran away from the saddlemaker at age 14 and found his freedom in
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In 1893, Ford founded a chemical company that supplied vital
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for the glass production. The company was located in
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List of people from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area
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504:PPG Industries (formerly Pittsburgh Plate Glass)
271:and expanding into the BASF industrial complex.
46:but its sources remain unclear because it lacks
410:The Roots Grow Deep: The Story of Captain Ford
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299:In 1900, 2,870 people resided in Ford City
292:by the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (now
218:J.B. Ford & Sons in New Albany, Indiana
148:, where he remained for the next 30 years.
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77:Learn how and when to remove this message
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161:which he sold throughout the country.
436:Historic Homes of New Albany, Indiana
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729:19th-century American businesspeople
288:Ford City was founded in 1887 as a
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739:American people of French descent
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16:American businessman (1811–1903)
241:Libbey Owens Ford Glass Company
714:People from Danville, Kentucky
324:John Ford died at his home in
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719:Burials at Allegheny Cemetery
734:Businesspeople from Kentucky
408:Aiken, William Earl (1957).
332:in Pittsburgh. The town of
328:, in 1903. He is buried in
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245:Washington Charles De Pauw
138:American Revolutionary War
98:Captain John Baptiste Ford
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434:Barksdale, David (2015).
336:, is named in his honor.
604:Electronics for Medicine
427:Atlantic Monthly Company
414:The Lezius-Hiles Company
311:John Baptiste Ford Drive
106:Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
32:This article includes a
334:Ford City, Pennsylvania
284:Ford City, Pennsylvania
265:Michigan Alkali Company
61:more precise citations.
421:Pound, Arthur (1940).
326:Tarentum, Pennsylvania
227:Pittsburgh Plate Glass
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724:PPG Industries people
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201:Steamboat production
93:Captain John B. Ford
614:Transitions Optical
275:Ford City, Michigan
261:Wyandotte, Michigan
184:New Albany, Indiana
152:Greenville, Indiana
146:Greenville, Indiana
523:John Baptiste Ford
464:John Baptiste Ford
438:. Charleston, SC:
394:, January 28, 2021
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122:Danville, Kentucky
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34:list of references
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631:Pitcairn Building
594:Columbia-Southern
528:John Pitcairn Jr.
449:978-1-46711-773-9
440:The History Press
108:, United States.
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662:PPG Paints Arena
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67:October 2010
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53:Please help
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709:1903 deaths
704:1811 births
599:Comex Group
305:2000 census
142:saddlemaker
134:War of 1812
130:New Orleans
104:, based in
59:introducing
698:Categories
425:. Boston:
368:References
263:and named
116:Born in a
112:Early life
646:PPG Place
624:Buildings
563:Dimetcote
159:pie safes
118:log cabin
546:Products
373:Specific
340:See also
257:soda ash
676:Related
609:Glidden
573:Ripolin
553:Aquapel
402:General
132:in the
55:improve
578:Teslin
511:People
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558:CR-39
320:Death
40:, or
568:Duco
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269:BASF
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