The Fenton Gift Shop sells vintage Fenton glassware, unique giftware and glass pieces made by Mosser Glass that use Fenton molds. (Photo by James Dobbs)

WILLIAMSTOWN — Although Fenton Art Glass Company stopped production in 2011, its legacy still lives on.

Fenton Art Glass Company was founded by brothers Frank L. Fenton and John W. Fenton in 1905, said James Measell, Historian at Fenton Art Glass.

The Fenton brothers got their start in glassware through a company that they were both working at in the late 1890s in Indiana, Pa. They went on to work at the Jefferson Glass Company in Steubenville, Ohio, the Bastow Glass Company in Coudersport, Pa., and the Northwood Glass Company in Wheeling, before realizing that running a glass decorating business was something they could do themselves.

Measell said the brothers pooled their money together in 1905 to rent a space in Martins Ferry, Ohio, to start their business. They bought glass from other companies, decorated it and sold it to various customers.

After awhile, the brothers began to entertain the idea that they could have glass made for them, instead of buying it from someone else. They looked for a factory site around Wheeling and Belaire, but eventually settled on Williamstown. They began to build a factory in the fall of 1906 and first made glass in Williamstown on Jan. 2, 1907, said Measell.

Fenton Art Glass Company made glass for 104 years before it stopped production. Fenton announced its closure in 2007, but remained open with a smaller team until July 2011 to complete incoming orders and sell inventory, said Measell.

“I remember George Fenton saying that the major problem the company had faced was melting capacity, because we were selling everything that we could make,” he said. “The collectibles market changed, and decorative glassware such as Fenton began to lose its popularity with a new generation of giftware buyers, and in the early 21st century, the handwriting became clearer and clearer. Costs, of course, were always a factor, the price of natural gas, the cost of labor, the cost of running a company, and in 2007 the decision was made to bring the company to a close.”

In 2017, the company sold its property in Williamstown to Wood County Schools Board of Education. The factory was then demolished in 2018 to make way for the new Williamstown Elementary School. Measell said the Fentons felt like the elementary school was a good legacy for their company.

“I think that all of the members of the family were interested in local education, in higher education, they supported local schools, supported Marietta College, and so on,” said Measell. “It is indeed fitting that the factory site is now the site of a school.”

In July 2017, Fenton Gift Shops moved from the factory location to 2242 Williams Highway, Williamstown. It sells vintage Fenton glassware, unique giftware and glass pieces made by Mosser Glass, in Cambridge, Ohio, which uses the molds in the same way Fenton did, like hand pressing and blowing the glass. Measell said there are very few places left in the United States that still make glass in that way.

Measell said the Fenton Art Glass Company is no longer something you can see, but is still alive through groups of collectors, and auctions for the glassware pieces. There are also two Fenton Clubs, National Fenton Glass Society and Fenton Art Glass Collectors of America, that are dedicated to learning and enjoying handmade glass.