West Virginia Glass Town

Huntington, WV

In the hills of West Virginia, near the Ohio River there is a town named Huntington
Town was founded in 1870 and named for its founder Collis P. Huntington
It was founded as a part of the western terminus for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway on land west of the mouth of the Guyandotte River at the Ohio River The town was created as railroad town with shops extending from Newport News, VA to Cincinnati, OH, and even as far west as Chicago Huntington is known to be at the western end of the Teays Valley Glass Belt ( Charleston-Huntington)

Transportation Resources
Huntington had access to these resources and therefore it was an important part of glass history

Chesapeake And Ohio Railways

Riverboats

Natural Resources
Materials or substances that can be found in nature and can be used for economic gain

Materials needed to make glass:

Silica (sand) Sodium Carbonate( soda ash) Lime

Each of the items needed for glass making are easily accessible to the Huntington area

34 Glass Factories in Huntington

Union Glass -1891-1904; window glass Huntington Glass Company 1892-1895; pressed pattern glass, tableware Central City Window Glass circa 1893; window glass WV Flint Bottle Co.-circa 1893; bottles , hollowware WV Window Glass circa 1900; window glass Holton Window Glass Co. circa 19021903; window glass
Huntington Tumbler Co. 1904-1932; tumblers, barware, stemware, cut glass

Huntington Window Glass CO. 1905; window glass Camp Glass Co. 1913-1920; window glass Chas. Bolt Glass Co. 1914-1919; bottles, hollowware Glass Brick Co. circa 1915-1920; glass bricks Schram Fruit Jar Co. 1919-1925; fruit jars Owens Bottle Co. Plant No. 2 1919-1929; bottles American Thermos Bottle Co. 19211940; liners for thermos bottles Boschoff Sons & Co. 1921-1935; lamp chimneys, bar ware, stemware
**Info obtained from Dean Six Research**

Huntington Glass Factories Continued

WV Glass Manufacturing 19221924; hollowware, fruit jars The National Window Glass Co. circa 1924-1927; window glass Ball Brothers Co. 1925 circa 1948; fruit jars, tumblers Bonita Art Glass Co. 1926 circa 1929; stemware, tableware, art glass, novelties Sinclair Glass Co. 1929-1965; novelities Owens- Illinois Glass Co. 19291965; hollowware, bottles Bonita Glass Co. 1931- circa 1953; art glass, novelities

Shelby Earl Glass Co. 1931- 1974; communion glasses Alexander H. Kerr & Co. circa 1932-1965; fruit jars The Bruce and Emch Glass Co. circa 1940s ; art glass, giftware Moncer Glass Co. circa 1940s; art glass, giftware Spring Valley Glass Co. 19421947; art glass, tableware, vases, novelties Tri-State Glass Manufacturing Co. pre-1948; novelties, giftware

**Info obtained from Dean Six Research**

Huntington Glass Factories Continued

Gill Glass Co. circa 1949- 1957; electric shades and globes, novelties Polan Industries 1953- 1979; stove top cookware Rainbow Arts Co. 1954-1973; novelties, giftware Owens Illinois, Inc. 1965-1993 bottles Kerr Glass Manufacturing Corp. circa 1973-1983; hollowware, fruit jars Viking Glass Co. 1974-1979; novelties, giftware
**Info obtained from Dean Six Research**

Huntington Highlights
The town suffered a natural disaster, on Jan. 27, 1937. The town was flooded by the Ohio River. A couple glass factories were also effected by the flood. Those included OwensIllinois Glass Co. and Ball Glass Co.

Several glass factories participated in Labor Day Parades in town. They dressed in uniforms of all white or other . The carried pennants, banners, and carried elaborate glass decorated parade canes.

Huntington Highlights
Rainbow Art Glass Company 1954-1983 The Rainbow Art Glass Co. was established in Huntington, West Virginia in 1954. In 1973 they were purchased as a subsidiary by Viking Glass. The factory burned in 1983 and Rainbow Art Glass ceased operations forever. Rainbow's glass forms were often hand blown and came in a range of vibrant colors and wild designs popular at the time. Collectors search for Rainbow decanters, figurines and crackle glass. Rainbow glass can sometimes be identified by the distinct styles of their stoppers, flat collar bottlenecks, and lined impressions on the pontil mark. Copyright 2012 by Retro Art Glass http://www.retroartglass.com Retro Art Glass is a Registered Trademark. All rights reserved. Double ball stopper cruets by Rainbow Art Glass circa 1955

Huntington Highlights

Owens- Illinois Glass Co. operated 3 glass factories in WV. All 3 were based on the revolutionary Owns Bottle Machine. Michael Owens, a WV native, invented the machine with financial backing from glass manufacturer Edward Libby. As the company grew it changed to Owens Bottle Co. in 1919 and then in 1929 merged with Illinois Glass Co. In 1947 the factory employed 1,100 people. The plant later became the companies bottle division for glass containers. By the year 1971 they had produced glass containers and then began to decline during the 1980s. Later the factory closed in 1993 and laid off the final 650 workers. Today the land is an important recreational area close to Ritter Park and is a part of League 3 Little League Baseball Complex.

Parting Thought

It isnt about whether the glass is half full or half empty, it is about if there is any glass at all!