The American glass industry began in southern New Jersey because of the availability of sand, soda ash, silica and wood. The nation’s earliest successful glass factory was founded in Alloway, NJ in 1739 by Caspar Wistar. In 1888, Dr. Theodore C. Wheaton, a pharmacist, began making his own pharmaceutical bottles in a glass factory in nearby Millville. From these beginnings, WheatonArts evolved.
In the 1960s and 70s, Dr. Wheaton’s grandson, Frank H. Wheaton, Jr. created a “typical turn of the century glass community” and a glass museum. The Museum of American Glass now houses over 6,500 objects - historic and contemporary. The fully operational glass factory presents daily, interpretive demonstrations. In the Craft Studios, artists demonstrate the traditional crafts of pottery making, woodcarving and flameworking. In 1983, a group of artists including Paul J. Stankard and Tom Patti worked with WheatonArts to establish the “Creative Glass Center of America” where artists are provided with the facilities, equipment and time to further develop their art.
Original TC Wheaton Factory, 1888, Collection of the Museum of American Glass
New Jersey Glass Factory, c. 1900, Collection of the Museum of American Glass
Curator at the Museum of American Glass at Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, Gay LeCleire Taylor, talks about the history of Southern New Jersey glass.
Curator at the Museum of American Glass at Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, Gay LeCleire Taylor, talks about a glass canning jar from 1739.
