The Glassworks at Williamstown, West Virginia.
With a brief detour to Martins Ferry, Ohio.
By Glen & Stephen Thistlewood, August 2023. © 2023
Fenton at Martins Ferry
To begin "The Story Behind the Glass" made by Fenton in Williamstown, West Virginia, we firstly have to take a detour via Martins Ferry, Ohio. That is actually where the Fenton brothers, Frank and John, opened a glass decorating shop in 1905, which they called the Fenton Art Glass Company. They would soon be joined by their brother, Charles.
They “built a kiln in a rented, abandoned factory” (source: Heacock) and began purchasing “blanks” from various glass companies, onto which they then hand-painted Frank Fenton’s designs. The “abandoned factory” that they rented was the old West Virginia Glass Works (known as the National Glass Co Factory No. 19, and also known as Haskins). We frequently hear about the early beginnings of the Fenton brothers, so it’s interesting to see this coloured postcard image of the glassworks, and the plan of the actual premises where they began the Fenton Art Glass Company.
To begin "The Story Behind the Glass" made by Fenton in Williamstown, West Virginia, we firstly have to take a detour via Martins Ferry, Ohio. That is actually where the Fenton brothers, Frank and John, opened a glass decorating shop in 1905, which they called the Fenton Art Glass Company. They would soon be joined by their brother, Charles.
They “built a kiln in a rented, abandoned factory” (source: Heacock) and began purchasing “blanks” from various glass companies, onto which they then hand-painted Frank Fenton’s designs. The “abandoned factory” that they rented was the old West Virginia Glass Works (known as the National Glass Co Factory No. 19, and also known as Haskins). We frequently hear about the early beginnings of the Fenton brothers, so it’s interesting to see this coloured postcard image of the glassworks, and the plan of the actual premises where they began the Fenton Art Glass Company.
This is the “abandoned” glassworks that the Fenton brothers rented in 1905, at Martins Ferry.
It was the West Virginia Glassworks / National Glass Factory No. 19 / Haskins. Courtesy Fenton Family and Fenton Art Glass. The viewpoint on the postcard from 1900 matches the plan below. |
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Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1900, of the premises rented by the Fenton brothers in Martins Ferry, Ohio, and the safety measures it had. Public Domain.
The plant used coal and natural gas for glassmaking, natural gas for lighting, and was connected to the city water supply.
The plant used coal and natural gas for glassmaking, natural gas for lighting, and was connected to the city water supply.
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It’s also interesting to note that just a few blocks away from the abandoned factory rented by the Fentons in Martins Ferry, was the Hipkins Novelty Mould Works (plan shown on the right). Stephen Hipkins was born in Lancashire, England in 1841, and his family emigrated to the USA when he was eight years old. Hipkins established the Hipkins Novelty Mould Shop of Martins Ferry, in 1884. The company quickly gained itself a good name for both design work and mould cutting - moulds were cut by hand with hammer and chisel. It’s likely that the Fenton brothers would have established early business connections with Hipkins, and that they continued into the future. Hipkins later supplied many of the moulds to make Carnival Glass to Fenton at Williamstown and to John Fenton’s Millersburg Glass. There was also a strong connection with Northwood, as George Hipkins became a shareholder of Northwood’s firm, and he also acted as pall bearer at Harry’s funeral. |
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1900, showing the Novelty Mould Works owned by Hipkins, in Martins Ferry, Ohio, and the safety measures it had. Public Domain.
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Fenton at Williamstown, West Virginia.
The Fenton brothers decided to set up their own glassworks, instead of simply decorating the products made by others. In 1906, according to “Glass and Pottery World”, “the three glass decorators from Martins Ferry, Ohio, came down to look into the advantages for locating a glass factory [at Williamstown].” The financing of this new Fenton enterprise is in an intriguing article from the “Glass and Pottery World” on our website: Fine Financing of Fenton Bros In Autumn 1906 ground was broken for the new factory at Williamstown and the furnaces were fired in December that year. Glass was first made at the Fentons’ Williamstown factory on January 2nd., 1907. Right: The Fenton Art Glass factory building
at Williamstown in 1907. Courtesy Fenton Family and the Fenton Art Glass Co. |
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Perhaps it is not surprising that Fenton continued their decorating skills after the move to Williamstown, and the image below (left) from 1907, shows an
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extensive and busy Decorating Room in 1907. One of the first kinds of glass to be made at Fenton in late 1907 was Carnival Glass (which they called “Iridill”), and again, it is not a surprise that when they starting making these entirely new lines, they included decorated items - see the image on the right of a trio of blow-moulded pitchers.
A look inside the Decorating Room at the Fenton Art Glass factory at Williamstown in 1907. Courtesy Fenton Family and the Fenton Art Glass Co.
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Above: Fenton’s decorated Banded Drape water pitchers – these would
have been made in the early years of their Carnival production. Left to right: Forget-me-not in green, Iris in marigold and Iris in green. |
By the start of 1908, Fenton were exhibiting at the Pittsburgh Glass Show with a full line of Carnival Glass including vases, comports and rose bowls.
It's not surprising that Fenton's operations in Williamsburg attracted attention from the press, and on our website, we have assembled a number of press reports and photographs from 1907 to 1913. Here is the link: Fenton in the Press.
By the start of 1908, Fenton were exhibiting at the Pittsburgh Glass Show with a full line of Carnival Glass including vases, comports and rose bowls.
It's not surprising that Fenton's operations in Williamsburg attracted attention from the press, and on our website, we have assembled a number of press reports and photographs from 1907 to 1913. Here is the link: Fenton in the Press.
Plan of the Williamstown, West Virginia works in 1934.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1934, showing the Fenton Art Glass Company factory and the safety measures it had. Public Domain.
Note the mis-spelling of Fenton (as Felton).
As you might expect by the 1930s, the factory had a well-developed fire prevention system: an automatic wet and dry sprinkler system, a water supply from a 45,000 gallon storage water tower, and chemical extinguishers. The furnaces were fuelled by natural gas, with oil as a stand-by if the gas supply was to fail. Lighting was electric. The wooden barrels and straw packing were all contained in a separate building.
Note the mis-spelling of Fenton (as Felton).
As you might expect by the 1930s, the factory had a well-developed fire prevention system: an automatic wet and dry sprinkler system, a water supply from a 45,000 gallon storage water tower, and chemical extinguishers. The furnaces were fuelled by natural gas, with oil as a stand-by if the gas supply was to fail. Lighting was electric. The wooden barrels and straw packing were all contained in a separate building.
Fenton Art Glass had the distinction of being the first USA factory to produce Carnival and also the longest-lasting of the Carnival Glass makers.
Fenton produced Carnival over many decades, with signature colours such as celeste blue and red Carnival being sought after. They exported all over the world, often using agents such as Charles Pratt in the UK.
Here is a small selection of some amazing examples of Classic Carnival produced by the expertise of the glassmakers at Fenton in Williamstown, WV.
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Left to right: Concord 9 inch plate, amethyst; Butterfly and Fern blow-moulded pitcher, blue; Plaid bowl, celeste blue.
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Carnival production ceased c. late 1930s-60s, but in 1970 Fenton launched their Revival era Carnival with a fanfare, describing it as “Famous Fenton Carnival Glass From the Original Fenton Formula”.
We have what is probably the first Fenton catalogue ad for the 1970 revival on our website here: Fenton's Carnival Revival Fenton continued to make some extraordinarily beautiful Carnival over another four decades until their final closure. 
Image courtesy Fenton Family and Fenton Art Glass.
Revival Carnival was introduced in 1970. The extract on the right is from their 1971 catalogue, the second year of their Revival Carnival. Courtesy Fenton Family and Fenton Art Glass.
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On the right is the frontage of the Fenton Art Glass Company, shown courtesy Fenton Family and Fenton Art Glass.
It will be immediately familiar to the thousands of collectors and visitors who would have passed through those doors as they went on one of the popular Fenton Factory Tours. It’s interesting- and probably very surprising to many - that Fenton actually started factory tours back in 1908, as the clip below, from the 1908 Clarksburg newspaper shows. 
Clip from 1908 Clarksburg newspaper.
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After originally starting out in business in 1905, the Fenton Art Glass Company finally ceased production in 2011. The iconic, recognisable factory buildings, with the familiar frontage, were razed in 2018.
Here on YouTube - if you can bear to watch it - is a link to the final demolition of the factory: The End of the Fenton Factory
All the information about Fenton on our website, including Carnival Glass Galleries, is linked from the Fenton Homepage. Click on the image below.
