page_title: J. H. Hobbs, Brockunier and Company
section_title: Wheeling
hierarchical_section_title: J. H. Hobbs, Brockunier and Company / Wheeling
caption_attribution_description: English: Drawing of the J.H. Hobbs, Brockunier &amp; Co. glass factory in Wheeling, West Virginia
context_page_description: 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.
context_section_description: 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.
  Glassmaking required high quantities of fuel to melt the raw materials used to make glass.  Coal was the fuel of choice for making glass during much of the 19th century, succeeding wood and eventually succeeded by natural gas.  Wheeling and the surrounding area was part of the Ohio Coal Belt, and coal was mined nearby.
  Wheeling is part of the northern strip of West Virginia, located in Ohio County between the states of  Ohio and Pennsylvania.  The city was part of Virginia until 1863, when the state of West Virginia was admitted to the Union during the American Civil War.  The area's excellent transportation infrastructure, which included the National Road and the Ohio River, improved in late December 1852, when the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad reached Wheeling.   More railroads were constructed during the following years, including across the river in Ohio.
caption: Drawing of the J.H. Hobbs, Brockunier & Co. glass works circa 1870s
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