Pittsburgh was famous for glass before steel. It was known as “America’s Glass City.” The city’s strategic location on an inland river system made it an ideal location for the manufacturing of this fragile product.   In 1902, there were over 150 glass factories in Western PA, Eastern Ohio, and West Virginia.   By 1920, this area produced 80% of the glass in the United States. Pittsburgh-produced glass has been used as fine tableware for U.S. presidents, as tiles for the walls of New York City’s great tunnels, as searchlights at the Panama Canal, and in street lights and lamps around the world.