Manufacturer Notes: Severn Glass Company

.Starts Up To-day

We are informed that the Annapolis Glass Works will start its furnaces to-day and resume the manufacture of glass-ware for which it has several large orders on hand. The factory we learned will be run on the co-operative plan--the glass-blowers sharing in the profits and expenses of the labor. During the temporary suspension, the furnace and other apparatus have been put in perfect order for operation. The company have a large order for amber ware with which to begin.

The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) March 24, 1887
_______________________________________________________________________________________

A glass factory, on the co-operative plan has recently been put into operation, which gives every promise of providing a paying investment on the capital employed.

The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) April 1, 1887
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Our Glass Works

The glass works will stop off on amber ware this week and on next Monday begin the manufacture of green ware. The company has received within the past few days a number of cash orders at excellent figures for various kinds of ware, sufficient to keep them profitably employed until the end of the season, July 1st.-They have twelve blowers at work now and the works present a very busy, energetic scene of action.

The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) April 16, 1887
_______________________________________________________________________________________

In Full Blast

The Horn Point Glass Works are in full blast and are running a force of twelve blowers. They are now running on green ware and have several large orders on hand. It is the most business like place in and about Annapolis and gives employment to a large force of hands.

The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) May 19, 1887
_______________________________________________________________________________________

The glass factory is in full blast, pushing ahead their order, preparatory to closing up for the months of July and August. We learned that they have already orders to start out on the new year, which will keep them busy the whole of next season.

The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) June 4, 1887
_______________________________________________________________________________________

The glass factory is still in full blast, but the past few days of hot weather has very much interfered with operations. The factory has been making full time except when interfered with by stoppage for repairs to the tank and fire box.

The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) June 20, 1887
_______________________________________________________________________________________

--The Annapolis Glass Factory at Eastport was offered for sale yesterday and withdrawn on a bid of $4,000.

The News (Frederick, Maryland) July 29, 1891
_______________________________________________________________________________________

There is talk in Annapolis of the Eastport glass factory going into the Glass Trust.

The News (Frederick, Maryland) April 22, 1899
_______________________________________________________________________________________

The Severn Glass company, at Eastport, closed its doors for the season on Saturday last after a very prosperous year.

The News (Frederick, Maryland) July 1, 1901
_______________________________________________________________________________________

A severe gale passed over Annapolis Wednesday morning, partly unroofing the Severn Glass Company's works at Eastport.

The News (Frederick, Maryland) August 16, 1901
_______________________________________________________________________________________

At the head of the Severn River, in Anne Arundel county, extensive diggings have been opened in the Lower Cretaceous, and a very pure grade of glass sand taken out. It is transported on small schooners, which are able at high tide to reach the head of the river.
In 1880 the tenth census report gives the output at 17,126 tons, valued at $34,250.

Members of John Hopkins University, Maryland Its Resources, Industries And Institutions (Baltimore, The Sun Job Printing Office, 1893)
_______________________________________________________________________________________

...1885... In, July the Annapolis glass works got underway.

Jackson, Elmer Martin, Jr.; Annapolis (Annapolis, The Capital-Gazette Press, 1936)
_______________________________________________________________________________________


In, 1885, the Annapolis Glass Works, situated at Horn Point, were finished, and are, at present, in successful operation.

Riley, Elihu S.; The Ancient City A History of Annapolis Maryland 1649-1887 (Annapolis, Record Printing Office, 1887)
_______________________________________________________________________________________

The leading industry is oyster shipping. There is also a glass factory and a marine railway in the suburbs.

Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1892 (New York, D. Appleton and Company, 1893)
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Title                                             Location       Date of Incorporation      Capital Stock
Annapolis Glass Co..................Annapolis      May 12, 1885                        3,000

Severn Glass Works Co...........Eastport        July 23, 1897                        10,000

Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau Of Industrial Statistics for 1898 (Baltimore, The Sun Book And Job Printing Office, 1899)
_______________________________________________________________________________________

The private home at the corner of Severn Avenue and Second Street was once the head office for one of Eastport's largest businesses. The Annapolis Glass Works later the Severn Glass Company produced china, glass and pottery from 1885 to 1902.

Eastport had access to three things a glass company needed: sand, water, and skilled workers. Sand arrived on barges floated down the Severn River. Workers melted the sand in large, brick furnaces to form molten glass. Glass blowers blew the molten glass into molds and then cooled the bottles in ovens. The finished products were then delivered to market by horse-drawn carts.

Historic Marker Annapolis
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Not listed in the 1910 Annapolis Business Directory.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

....came across a "Souvenir Volume" from the Maryland Bottlers Protective Association of Baltimore, when they hosted the 10th annual convention of the American Bottlers Protective Association in Baltimore in October 1898.
There are advertisements in this book from nearly all of the local breweries and bottlers, and many of the glass works of the era as well ( DOC, EHE CO, OG CO, AGW, J BROS, etc), including one from the Severn Glass Company. 
I had never heard of the Severn Glass Company prior to finding this book. 
There are probably more Baltimore beer bottles with the SG CO mark, than any other marking. EHE CO would be close in number, followed by the DOC bottles.

Chris Vaught, January, 2009
_______________________________________________________________________________________


Go To North American Soda & Beers Home