History of S.I. Howard Glass Company, Inc.

S.I. Howard Glass Co., Inc. has a long, rich history of serving customers with quality glass products. We began as S. I. Howard Co. in 1912 as a small carpentry establishment serving the greater Worcester area. Our founder, Mr. Samuel Ira Howard, particularly focused on installing windows, glazing and carrying an inventory of plate glass. Although he worked hard and had an excellent reputation, the Great Depression was not kind to him. By 1939, the company was headed for bankruptcy. Fortunately, a young, ambitious, talented man named Earl R. Farmer Sr. was just finishing his internship through Northeastern University as an accountant for Mr. Howard. Instead of taking the company through bankruptcy, Mr. Farmer made a deal with the creditors of Howard Glass Co., and agreed to continue the business and pay back the debt owed to the banks in exchange for ownership. He succeeded, and today, the third generation of Mr. Farmer is bringing S. I. Howard Glass Company, Inc. into the future.

At first, Howard Glass was known for quality glazing and store front installations. After WWII, when Mr. Farmer returned home from serving in the war, he noticed a shift in the market as a demand for glass parts for instruments emerged. He acquired customers such as Geier & Bluhm (still our customer to this day) Stocker & Yale, and Mason & Sullivan. S. I. Howard Glass Co., which became incorporated in 1948, began making parts for clocks, military compasses, and other tools. By the mid 1970s, we no longer served residential and commercial properties, but were solely focused on the instrument makers of the world.

Today, our base of over 500 customers ranges from optics to biomedical, electronics to aerospace, and prototyping for research and development. We specialize in edge grinding, grinding and polishing, CNC machining, dicing, scribe and break and heat strengthening. We carry over $1 million in inventory in a broad range of glass types for optical and industry. As of 2015, we are both ISO certified and ITAR registered. We could not be more proud of history, our products, our customers, and especially of the employees who brought us to where we are today.

Our pricing is very competitive. Prices are listed on this website for all of our glass types by square foot. Please do not hesitate to contact quotes@howardglass.com for pricing on a customized part.