The Evolution of Glass

Pittsburgh has been a hub for glass production since 1797, when the first glasshouse in the city opened. In the era of the Glass City, there were 34 glass plants on South Side alone, according to Russ Crupe, collector and member of Historical Glass Club Pittsburgh. The region quickly rose to be the center of the glass industry in the United States, producing 20 percent of the country’s glass by 1920. Local glass plants worked on prestigious projects such as the windows in the crown of the Statue of Liberty, searchlights in the Panama Canal, and five sets of presidential tableware. Pittsburgh flourished with the rise of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (PPG) and many other prestigious glass factories before it ever became known as the “Steel City.”

Even with its early history of glass production, Pittsburgh was still a late-adopter of glass-making, relatively speaking. Historians suspect that the first glass products were made and distributed around the time of 3500 BCE. The early Egyptians and Mesopotamians had a painstaking process of melting and molding the glass in small furnaces until the creation of the blow pipe, which is still used today. To power these small furnaces, experts believe they used wood. On the other side of the Atlantic, glass furnaces came to Jamestown in the early 1600s, where they used similar glass-making methods as their ancient forefathers. When glass production finally made its way to Western Pennsylvania years later, glassmakers were using conical furnaces powered by coal to melt the glass. These cone-like structures dotted the Pittsburgh skyline for well over a century.

The glass industry began to decline in Pittsburgh after its peak during the 1920s. This decline was largely due to the introduction of natural gas as an alternative to coal-powered furnaces. Natural gas provided a cheaper and cleaner source of fuel—as it still does today—which is why the majority of the glass industry moved to areas with more abundant natural gas supplies at the time. From hand-blown glass to the mass-production of glass bottles, natural gas has become the go-to fuel for glass production. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 73 percent of the glass manufacturing industry now uses natural gas.

Despite the end of Pittsburgh’s reign as the “Glass City,” Southwestern Pennsylvania still plays an important role in the glass industry. Organizations like the Pittsburgh Glass Center focus more on the art of glass, by educating and providing a community for fellow glass artisans. Natural gas also continues to play an important role in the process, giving glass artists the extreme heat that they need, while also being energy efficient. From glass jewelry to stained glass, glass production is one of the many ways that people can be creative with natural gas. And while the methods used today may differ from some ancient techniques, the beautiful glass pieces produced today bring a new layer of art and beauty to the evolution of glass.