Steve/sewell
Posts: 4295
Joined: 1/23/2010
Status: offline
|
Unknown to most Washingtonians and other Americans and particularity we few in the glass collecting community
located literally right underneath the Lincoln Memorial was a thriving glass works started in 1807 it rivaled the Boston Crown glass works in size and output at the time and supplied a lot of the glass windows in the city of Washington.
The name, "Old Glass-House," to an old-time Washingtonian, meant not only an old factory where glass was made, but it also comprehended the settlement that grew up in the vicinity of that factory. This factory and settlement were in the Southwestern part of Washington City.To be more explicit, the factory was at the southeast corner of Twenty-second and Water streets, northwest; and the Glass-House settlement covered the space between Twenty-first and Twenty-third streets northwest, and New York avenue and the Potomac river, and occupied part of the old village of Hamburg or Funkstown, which extended from about the location of Nineteenth street to that of Twenty-third street, west, and from about the location of H street, northwest, to the Potomac River in easier terms to understand just north of the current location of the Lincoln Memorial monument.
The settlement was principally the natural growth around what was considered in those days a large and flourishing glass-factory, situated on the river-bank between Twenty-first and Twenty-second streets, northwest, and which was started about the year 1807 by a firm composed of Andrew Way, Jr., George Way, Jacob Curts, Horace H. Edwards and Solomon Stanger,( one of the famous Stanger brothers who would go on to found more glass works then anyone in the history of glass factories in the early United States ) who in that year (according to deed dated May 12, 1807, and recorded in Liber M 17 at folio 315 of the District of Columbia Land Records) bought a piece of land in Square 89, fronting 1691/) feet on Water street and extending southward to the Potomac ; and on the river side of which was a wharf fronting a])out 130 feet on the river, and extending about 200 feet south from Water street, and called the ''Commissioners Wharf ' ' on the old plates, with a depth of about eight feet of water at mean tide. By the year 1809 Andrew and George Way had bought out the interests of the other owners, and in 1813 they had increased their acquisitions to the east and west of the works until their property extended 3211/2 feet along Water street, a large part of it covered by water, it is true, but very valuable to them for the extension of their works and wharves.
The factory buildings extended quite a distance along Water street. At the east end was the blowing room, a barn-like brick structure with broad blind arches in the walls. Window glass was only produced here but for over thirty years with the last 10 being tenous.I met a gentleman last month while in DC for four days.Bob is 91 years young!! and still drives.
He is the neighbor to my wifes best friend they live right near Mount Vernon Virginia George Washington's plantation home.Bob is a collector of antiques and loves history.Over the course of dinner we struck up a good conversation about DC and I was hanging with him pretty well when I mentioned the fact I collected old glass.After dinner Bob showed me shards of glass he acquired from his father who worked on the demolition of some of the older structures that were located where once the glass factory stood.When he was a boy the old neighborhood in and around the old glass works location was going through a rebirth in construction.He told me his father found so much glass that his mom forbid him not bring it home anymore as it was taking over their household.
Hence the title of my post glass was loaded underneath of Lincoln's ( A S S ) statue on the 130 ft wharf!! Here is a map in 1857 overlaid onto the current configuration of Washington DC.The glass works are the Red square and the Washington monument is the red dot.Notice the ground where Lincolns memorial sits today was part of the Potomac river
 Attachment (1)
_____________________________
Auf Wiedersehen
|
Under Lincoln's A s s they used to load glass. - 
Here is a neat link showing how the City of Washington DC changed. 
These glass factories or works were responsible for the growth of the city or town near them more then any other entity at the time of their existance no matter what part of the country they were located in.They were also as profitable as all get out as a lot of the owners were very wealthy at some point in their ownership.
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread