{"nrhp_refnum":"83001945","name":"Imperial Glass Company","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"29th and Belmont Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bellaire","county":"Belmont County","state":"OH","lat":40.011535182000046,"lon":-80.74672332399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-09-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large brick-and-steel glass factory at 29th and Belmont Streets in Bellaire, Belmont County, Ohio, built in 1903 and designed by architect Harry E. Forney.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it historically and architecturally significant as a representation of the industrial heritage of Bellaire and the Ohio Valley. It was the largest glass factory under one roof in the world when its furnaces were first fired in January 1904. It has changed little in about 80 years of continuous use, making it an intact example of turn-of-the-century industrial architecture.","narrative":"Built in 1903 at 29th and Belmont Streets in Bellaire, Ohio, this massive brick and steel-frame factory housed the Imperial Glass Company. Architect Harry E. Forney designed and supervised its construction. The building has two stories over an elevated basement and about 230,000 square feet of floor space. Clerestory windows and a sawtooth roof lit the work areas, and each level was assigned a stage of production partly to guard against flooding from the Ohio River. When its furnaces were first lit on January 23, 1904, it was the largest glass factory under one roof in the world. Bellaire's glass industry had grown on cheap coal and natural gas, plus rail and river transport, and Imperial arrived with land and financial incentives from the city. It made mass-market items such as jelly glasses, tumblers and tableware. Early equipment, including moulds, presses and an air compressor, remains in its original locations, and the plant has seen few alterations in eight decades of continuous use.","period_of_significance":"1903","architect_builder":"Harry E. Forney","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a glass factory; the brick walls appear sound but the roof needs significant repair.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.031981-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/83001945.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001945/1ba1bdf668-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001945/1ba1bdf668-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Bwsmith84 (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Imperial_glass.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bwsmith84 (talk)</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Imperial_glass.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71986813","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Glass_Company","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6006602"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/belmont-county/imperial-glass-company-83001945/"}