Glass From The Past: New Exhibit At Downtown Library Opens Saturday

The Chattanooga Public Library and Overlooked Materials announce the Downtown Library’s newest exhibit: Glass from the Past: Journey Through an Overlooked History of Chattanooga. The exhibit is curated by Morgan Holl, owner of Overlooked Materials, in partnership with the Library’s Local History and Genealogy Department and features historical artifacts from Chattanooga’s glass manufacturing past.

Visit a grocery store today, and you will find products in all sorts of packaging: plastic bottles and containers, aluminum cans, steel cans, and glass jars and bottles. A hundred years ago, however, glass ruled the world. And more specifically, glass ruled Chattanooga.

Glass From the Past showcases the early 20th century, where Chattanooga was home to not only the world’s first Coca-Cola bottling operation but also one of the largest glass manufacturers in the country, The Chattanooga Glass Company. During this time, many stories unfolded related to glass production and bottling, including those of Coca-Cola, local and regional sodas, local distilling and brewing companies, local dairies and even “miracle” tonics.

Mr. Holl offers a unique perspective on these stories. Overlooked Materials opened in 2024 as Chattanooga’s first glass processing facility since the 1980s, as well as the first curbside glass recycling service since 2018. In learning about the decline of glass packaging and glass recycling options in Chattanooga, Mr. Holl built a collection of several hundred historical glass objects.

Mr. Holl’s collection, along with artifacts from the Library, UTC Library’s Special Collections, and other community partners shares these stories so that locals and visitors alike can learn more about this untold Chattanooga history. The exhibit will be available during the Library’s regular operating hours, Monday through Saturday, and guided tours can be requested on the Library’s website. To learn more, visit chattlibrary.org.