Second Saturday Series: "The Champlain Glassworks: A Roller Coaster Ride for Burlington's First Manufacturing Company (1827-1850)"

Saturday, August 10 at 2:00 p.m. at the Vermont History Center, 60 Washington Street, Barre

Using the Vermont Heritage Galleries as a backdrop, the Vermont Historical Society is hosting the Second Saturday Series monthly. See below for August's topic!

In 1827 in Burlington what could be more enticing for enterprising businessmen and investors looking for a start-up venture than the fascinating business of glass making? Commerce had taken over the lake and the port of Burlington after the War of 1812, the Champlain and Erie Canals had been built and opened resulting in new cities and new markets, especially in the West. Window glass was a needed commodity and thus the Champlain Glass Company, Burlington's largest manufacturing enterprise at the time, was founded.

But glass blowing was risky business - fires and more fires, tariffs, competition for markets and for skilled workers, bankruptcy, then successful reorganization, and on it went. Using information sources such as company ledgers, weekly payrolls of barter and pay, stories of the management, the workers and their families, insurance maps and newspaper reports, this is the story of the company and its changing leaders as told by expert historian L. Diana Carlisle.

All Second Saturday talks are free with admission to the Vermont History Center.

For more information, please contact Amanda Gustin, Public Programs Coordinator, at amanda.gustin@state.vt.us or (802) 828-2180.