Dyottville Glass Works Site

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Dyottville Glass Work

The Dyottville Glass Works site was located at the intersection of Dyott Street and Richmond Street, with Dyott Street to the south, Richmond Street to the west, and the Delaware River to the east, situated along the northeast shoulder of the Dyott-Richmond Street intersection.

The Dyottville study area conditions prior to the start of archaeological investigations were characterized by asphalt paving over Belgian block. Concrete paving related to early-twentieth-century rail lines was exposed beneath the Belgian block in the west half of the excavation area. Sections of railroad tracks were visible on the street surface and were embedded in the concrete base, along with wood railroad ties. A chain link fence, aligned along the far outer edge of Richmond and Dyott Streets, defined the eastern boundary of the study area. A privately owned, grass-covered lot—located on the east side of the fence, outside of the project area—likely contains additional well-preserved Dyottville Glass Works buildings and archaeological deposits.

Site History Summary

The first glass factory in the area, the Philadelphia Glass Works, was founded in 1771 and was located on the property immediately north of the Dyottville Glass Works. In 1774, John Hewson erected a calico printing works between the north bank of Gunner’s Run and the Philadelphia Glass Works; this was to be the future site of Dyottville. Around 1807, the calico works was expanded via the construction of a timber bulkhead along the adjacent bank of Gunner’s Run creek, and shortly after, a substantial dyehouse was added to the property. The dyehouse was a stone and brick building with substantial stone bulkhead and spread footer foundations, and in 1816, John Hewson Jr. converted this structure into the Kensington Glass Works. The converted building had a single furnace chimney and became the main glass factory structure, which Thomas Dyott took over in the early 1820s and operated until 1838.

The dyehouse/glass factory building that was the focus of excavations in 2011–2012 changed dramatically in appearance since it was first constructed onto fill placed on the mud flats of Gunner’s Run in 1816. The structure appears to have gone through at least three primary phases of modification as the Dyottville Glass Works grew under Dyott’s direction and later changed hands under a succession of owners. In each instance, earlier building elements were reused, adapted, repurposed, and added onto in order to accommodate new requirements of the industry.

Archaeological excavation began with the machine removal of overlying fill, exposing a series of brick annealing oven foundations, along with a brick floor, doorway opening, and a central furnace access tunnel leading to a single furnace, dating to circa 1880. The annealing ovens varied in size, ranging from 18 x 28 feet to 24 x 32 feet. The inconsistent sizes are probably related to the fact that the ovens had been rebuilt and modified from earlier ovens, with some of the earlier foundations incorporated into the later structures. Removal of the post-1880 brick floor revealed a smaller vaulted furnace access tunnel. This access point appears to be related to the 1850–1880 glass factory, which used two furnace chimneys. The interior of the vault was filled with ash, glass waste, and building debris.

Excavation also exposed the original glass furnace vault tunnel. The vault opening was 5 feet, 6 inches high with a level brick floor. The brick vault tunnel provided access to a single furnace of the 1816 factory. This tunnel vault and related walls and foundations were constructed using the earlier calico printing works foundations.

*In general reference, glassworks appears here in its contemporary, single-word usage.

What Did the Archaeological Excavation Reveal?

The excavation revealed many foundation walls from all three phases of the glass factory (1816–1850, 1850–1880, and 1880–1900) and elements of the earlier calico printing works. The ongoing analysis of the reuse and conversion of earlier structures (such as the multiple episodes of annealing oven reconstruction) and how foundations of unrelated industrial buildings (like the calico printing works) were converted into glass factories, along with the many recovered artifacts, continues to provide invaluable information on the evolution of glassmaking in the nineteenth century.