The Former Pitkin Glass Works

A Real Glass Act
Pitkin Glass Works, Manchester

August 25, 2007

cur4d.jpgThe Pitkin Glass Works’ inclusion in CTMQ was iffy. I mean, if I plan on incorporating every ruined building with scant historical significance… Wait a minute, why not? At least maybe as long as they have an official state sign and a robust historic story, they’re good enough for me. And this place certainly qualifies. (It IS a National Historic Site.)

Cult hero EdHill and I were on a day-long MegaQuest with several stops in Manchester. Back at the Old Manchester Museum visit, we learned a little bit about the Pitkin Glass Works. Most importantly was how Richard Pitkin and his sons were granted a monopoly by the General Assembly of Connecticut for the manufacture of glass for 25 years as recompense for their providing gunpowder, at a loss, to the Continental Army, 1775-1781.

Ed had actually set it up to meet Friend of CTMQ (and Manchester resident) Liz right there, at the Glass Factory ruins. You know how you and your friends meet up at the swanky new martini bar or maybe at the club for a concert? And how that’s cool? Well, Friends of CTMQ meet at Glass Factory ruins… And they like it.

Liz actually gave us some good history of the area; like how she and her friends used to have unrestricted access to the ruins as children and used to light off firecrackers on them. Or how “that house over there used to be a tavern that George Washington got drunk in.” (Liz is a joker and is aware of the long-running CTMQ joke that Washington slept and drank EVERYWHERE in Connecticut. He was, apparently, the Lindsey Lohan of his day.) There was, at least, a tavern in the area, I’ll give her that:

cur4c1.jpg

The glass factory remained in operation until about 1830. They produced demijohns for the West Indian trade as well as bottles, flasks, inkwells and other stuff, usually in a shade of green. Pitkins were considered the best designed and colored glass in the country and today have fetched up to $25,000 at auctions.

No one really knows why the factory closed, but the building fell apart fairly rapidly. The Pitkin family retained the property in the 20th century, but in 1977 found it too costly to maintain and tried to sell it to a commercial venture. This was prevented by the DAR and some concerned Manchester citizens who got the site approved as a National Historic Site.

cur4b.jpgThe group has overseen maintenance, had the stone ruins repointed and the oak lintels replaced. (I don’t know what that means, I’m cribbing from an handout from the Old Manchester Museum.) A dig was organized by Central CT State University students but they really didn’t find anything but a few shards. The display back at the museum, it turns out, are mostly replica Pitkins.

BUT, and this may be the reason I’m bothering with this entry… There is a curious and elusive museum up Route 44 from the Pitkin Glass Works in Coventry – The Museum of Connecticut Glass. I’ve seen the building(s) and have corresponded with the curator. As it turns out, they are pretty much never open and can’t be bothered with private tours. One or two days a year they sort of open for auctions. And CTMQ will be there. I promise… For YOU, dear readers. They must have some original Pitkins for us to gaze upon. The President says:

Steve,

Since our buildings are in a construction phase as we obtain funds, we only schedule special exhibits. We can’t secure the exhibition pieces and correspondence in the buildings in their present condition. So there are no materials kept in the buildings.

Noel Tomas, President

But their website gives me hope for May 31, 2008. Let’s all descend on them as a pack! (And give them some much needed money!)

I finally did in May 2009.

…………………………………………………….

For the Curious:

Pitkin Glass Works Website
I didn’t know what demijohns were. Now I do.
How to repoint old stone
Replacing oak lintels and a whole lot more. Fascinating.

6 responses to “The Former Pitkin Glass Works”

  1. KO says:

    Hey- you might have more luck contacting the Coventry Historical Society and working that angle. Perhaps EdHill can show them a little cleavage for the cause and you can get them to pull some strings for you. Just a thought.

  2. Lizardqueen says:

    Oh the EdHill cleavage would have worked wonders. It’s what actually caused the fall of the Berlin Wall. True story.

  3. dunetunes says:

    I didn’t know Ed had cleavage…
    I learn something everytime I read this blog!

  4. honeybunny says:

    I heard Chihuly loves this place.

    hb

  5. leonsamot says:

    That “elusive” Coventry museum will draw a good crowd this Saturday, May 30, 2009. when it puts on its annual show and sale. The field next to its barn will be filled with dealers (there is a waiting list of dealers wanting to set up at this show). Early bird patrons can enter for $15 starting at 8 a.m. Regular patrons can begin searching the tables for rare pieces (yes, even Pitkins) beginning at 9 a.m. The show promptly ends at 1 p.m. and will be held rain or shine.
    LS

  6. Kara Seager-Segalla says:

    From the book, Pitkin Family of America, by A.P. Pitkin, it states, “In 1783, William Pitkin, Elisha Pitkin, and Samuel Bishop started a new enterprise, they having been granted by the Court the sole privilege of manufacturing glass in the state for twenty-four years. The picturesque stone walls of the old glass works, over a hundred years old, are still standing (1887) in Manchester, formerly East Hartford, near the home of J.R. Pitkin, Esq., and owned by him. Glass was manufactured here til 1830, and the process of manufacture was a great curiously to many who came a great distance to see it in the early times. This was the chief place of business in what is now Manchester, at the close of the Revolution. The settlement contained, beside the glass works, a smith shop, a pottery, a store, and tavern.”

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