The Coventry Glass Factory Historic District is a historic district in

Coventry, Connecticut Coventry ( ) is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut. The population was 12,235 at the 2020 census. The birthplace of Captain Nathan Hale, Coventry is home to the Nathan Hale Homestead, which is now a museum open to the public. Coventry was i ...

that was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1987. The listing encompasses ten historically significant houses, clustered near the site of the former Coventry Glass Factory, in a linear district along what was the Boston Turnpike, now U.S. Route 44. The Skungamaug River is a creek cutting through the district. The glassworks operated here between 1813 and about 1845, and most of these houses date to that time, exhibiting largely vernacular Federal and

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

styles. The most sophisticated and best-preserved house is that of Nathaniel Root, at 1044 Boston Turnpike. The ground in the area of the glassworks (of which no structures survive) is littered with melted glass fragments and burnt brick fragments. and The Coventry Glassworks was established in 1813, in part to meet demand for glass objects that had previously been fulfilled by English companies, a source cut off by the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

. The glassworks founders included experienced glassblowers and local businessmen, who combined their capital and expertise. The company produced small bottles, inkstands, and flasks, and is credited with creating the first "portrait flask", bearing a depiction of the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...

in commemoration of his 1825 visit to the United States. The company had a rotating cast of partners and glassblowers, and remained in operation until about 1845, when its proprietors at that time moved the business to Willington. Most of the houses in this area were built by or for either the proprietors, or the workers they hired.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Coventry, Connecticut Greek Revival architecture in Connecticut Federal architecture in Connecticut Historic districts in Tolland County, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Tolland County, Connecticut Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut

See also

References