Old Glassworks
Springhill Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Half a mile east of here, 1794-1797, the first glass factory west of the Alleghenies was founded by Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury under Thomas Jefferson. He was aided by skillful glassworkers from the Amelung factory -- Kramer, Gabler, Eberhart, Reppert, and Reitz. Factory closed in 1807.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In the 1790s the western Pennsylvania frontier was still raw country, and glass — fragile and heavy — was among the hardest goods to haul over the mountains. Here, between 1794 and 1797, Albert Gallatin, soon to be Thomas Jefferson's long-serving Treasury Secretary, backed the first glass factory west of the Alleghenies, drawing on trained hands from the noted Amelung works. The little enterprise made window glass and bottles for a growing region until it closed in 1807.
Why it matters
It marks the moment American manufacturing leapt the mountains, proving the trans-Appalachian West could make its own finished goods rather than import them from the East.
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Related people
- · Albert Gallatin
- · Thomas Jefferson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Old Glassworks
Monongahela Township, PA · est. 1955
On this site in 1805 rose the first glass factory west of the Monongahela River, part of the wave of frontier industry encouraged by Albert Gallatin, Thomas Jefferson's Treasury Secretary and a tireless promoter of manufacturing in western Pennsylvania. Furnaces here turned local sand into window glass and vessels for a region hungry for finished goods. Glassmaking continued at the spot until 1849.
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