Label
Bowl, 1832-1839
Lake Dunmore Glassworks (1832-1839)
Salisbury, Vermont
Glass
Bequest of Harold G. Rugg, #1957.1.257
Four glassworks operated in Vermont during the first half of the nineteenth century. The Vermont Glass Factory opened in 1813 and had operations in Salisbury on Lake Dunmore and in East Middlebury. Both operations primarily made window glass, though the East Middlebury works probably made bottles and other wares as well. Due to fire and financial problems, the initially successful company was out of business by 1817.
The Lake Dunmore Glass Company opened on the site of the older glassworks in 1832 and stayed in operation until 1839. Like its predecessor it manufactured window glass, though several examples of bowls and bottles made by its workers survive.
The largest of the four companies was the Champlain Glass Works, which opened in Burlington in 1827. The large works employed 100 people in making window glass and bottles. During the 1840s it successfully marketed its wares in the west, using the Champlain and Erie canals. Without enough wood to fuel its furnaces it closed in 1850.