The Berkshire Glass Works At The SHS

Authors Julie L. Sloan and William J. Patriquin will give an illustrated talk, “The Berkshire Glass Works,” at the Stephentown Historical Society meeting on Monday, March 4, at 7:30 pm. The meeting will be at the Stephentown Heritage Center on Garfield Road, Stephentown. It is free and open to the public. The building is handicapped accessible. For directions or information, phone 518-733-0010.
The purity of the sand found in northern Berkshire County provided The Berkshire Glass Company with an excellent resource for over fifty years of glass making in Berkshire Village, a section of Lanesborough, MA. From its first cylinders of glass blown in 1853, the company’s work grew by leaps and bounds until it was producing 3,000 square feet of glass by 1855. Berkshire Glass Company made regular window glass and colored glass for stained glass windows. The company’s business suffered during the Civil War, but it came out of the strife stronger than ever.
Patriquin and Sloan are experts in the field of stained glass, lifelong residents of Berkshire County and authors of the book The Berkshire Glass Works. They will have copies of that book for sale at $22. William Patriquin, a former biomedical technician, navy diver and chief petty officer has worked as a professional stained glass restorer since 1997. Julie L. Sloan is a conservator and stained glass consultant with an M.S. in Historic Preservation from Columbia University. She is the author of “Conservation of Stained Glass in America” among many other publications on stained glass and its restoration. Their talk will cover a wide range of topics, from manufacturing to architectural art of the times and social history of the community.
They will bring samples of some of the glass produced by the Berkshire Glass Company. Any examples of glass produced in Rensselaer County’s own Glass Lake factory would be welcomed.