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Snead Manufacturing Building
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The outside of one of Louisville Glassworks studios in downtown Louisville
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| Location: | Louisville, KY |
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| Built: | 1910 |
| Architect: | Murphy D.X. & Brothers |
| Architectural style: | No Style Listed |
| Governing body: | Private |
| NRHP Reference#: | 78001367 [1] |
| Added to NRHP: | August 1, 1978 |
Louisville Glassworks is a multi-use facility housing three working glass studios (Architectural Glass Art, Payton Flameworks, Hyland Glass Hotshop), two glass galleries, a Walk-In Workshop and daily tours. Louisville Glassworks is located in Louisville, Kentucky's "Museum Row" in the West Main District of downtown. Louisville Glassworks houses a first and second floor event space, as well as a roof top space.
From 1850 to 1901, at least seven different glass manufacturing factories operated in Louisville. Six were utilitarian bottle houses, and the other manufactured window and plate glass. In 1850 the first glass bottle- and jar-making firm, known as the Kentucky Glass Works was formed, which, by 1855, was being referred to under the name "Louisville Glass Works". ("Louisville KY Glass Works" is the actual wording on some of their embossed whiskey flasks of the 1850s and 1860s era). However, that firm was defunct by 1873, and bears no relationship to the present glassmaking business which operates under the name "Louisville Glassworks" and which produces principally art, decorative and novelty glassware.)
In 1896 Edwin Penna began operation, and has gone under five generations of Penna ownership.[2]
The downtown location has historically been known as the Snead Manufacturing Building, and was put on the National Register in 1978. Snead was responsible for building many iron buildings around the country. After the old building burnt down, the architect was told to build a "first-class fireproof power building".[3]
Louisville Glassworks, as we know it today, opened in 2001. Louisville Glassworks houses a hands on Walk-in Workshop, a glass art Gallery, and three functional glass art studios (Architectural Glass Art, Flame works, and Glassblowing). p.[2]