Beautiful art glass
Owners: John and Patti O’Donnell
Established: 1888
Products: Hand-mixed art glass, blown glass giftware, awards, custom panels, windows, and lamps.
Tours: Public—Mon-Fri at 10 a.m. Group Tours may be made by special arrangement in advance only.
OP Shop Hours: Mon-Fri at 9 a.m.- 5 p.m., Sat 9 a.m.- 1 p.m
Website: KOG.com
The oldest art glass company in America, Kokomo Opalescent Glass, founded as a result of the Indiana gas boom, is famous worldwide for its hand-mixed art glass. The company has been in continuous operation since 1888 and boasts an impressive client roster that includes industry giants like L.C. Tiffany, J&R Lamb and LaFarge. Louis Comfort Tiffany bought KOG glass for his lamps, windows, and ceiling domes, including those found in the renovated Chicago Cultural Center, still thriving almost 130 years after it first opened.
KOG, still owned by some of the original families’ descendants, offers tours of its facilities for a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process in action. Workers handle a 2400 degree molten mix of soda ash, silica sand, limestone, feldspar, and mineral colorants from large ceramic pots that can hold up to 1200 pounds of raw material. The glowing molten glass is rolled, cast, or blown either in the large factory room—the same one used for over a century—or in the Hot Glass Studio where gaffers transform it into functional giftware such as vases, bowls, paperweights, and ornaments. Over 8,000 people toured the facility last year from 36 states and 6 countries.
In The Op Shop, KOG’s retail store adjoining the factory, visitors and customers may browse the glass area and many unique and colorful items made on site in the studio as well as the production area that focuses on restoration or new build of lamps, windows, panels, sun catchers, awards, and jewelry. For those interested in further hands on experience with KOG glass, there are several class options offered.
Kokomo Opalescent Glass
1310 S. Market St. Kokomo IN 46902
765-457-1829
