J. H. Hobbs, Brockunier and Company

J. H. Hobbs, Brockunier and Company was one of the largest and best known manufacturers of glass in the United States in the 19th century. Its products were distributed world-wide. The company is responsible for one of the greatest innovations in American glassmaking—an improved formula for lime glass that enabled American glass makers to produce high-quality glass at a lower cost. The firm also developed many of the talented glassmakers that started glass factories in Ohio and Indiana.

The firm was first organized as Barnes and Hobbs in 1845 by James B. Barnes and John L. Hobbs. Both men held supervisory positions at the New England Glass Company in Massachusetts before starting their business venture. They came to a small community near the south side of Wheeling, Virginia, to begin their new glassmaking company. The firm was reorganized multiple times during the next half century, but members of the Hobbs family were always part of the ownership. The most famous iteration of the company was named J. H. Hobbs, Brockunier and Company. This version of the firm was organized in 1863 as a co-partnership between John L. Hobbs, son John H. Hobbs, and Charles W. Brockunier. Its products were mostly pressed and blown tableware.

In 1891, the Hobbs glass works joined the United States Glass Company trust. The trust controlled over a dozen glass plants. In 1893, the glass works was closed. It remained closed until 1902 when the property was sold to Harry Northwood—a former employee of J. H. Hobbs, Bruckunier and Company.

A good transportation system made Wheeling an ideal location for a glass factory during the 19th century. Wheeling is located on the Ohio River at the river's intersection with the National Road. During the 1840s, waterways were the best mode for inter-city transportation. America's railroad network was still in its infancy, especially west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Ohio and Mississippi Rivers were an easy way to ship products to large cities such as Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis, and New Orleans.