Glass making demonstration at the Glasshouse in Historic Jamestowne, Colonial National Historical Park

The Jamestown Glasshouse is located shortly after passing through the entrance gate to Historic Jamestowne. It is open daily from 8:45 AM to 5 PM. Visitors can watch glassblowing demonstrations and purchase hand-blown glass at the facility’s small gift store. There is no charge other than the standard Colonial National Historical Park entrance fee.

After the initial attempt to find gold and silver failed, the Virginia Company brought over skilled craftsmen with the second wave of colonists in 1608 in an attempt to make money from traditional industries. On the ship were eight Germans and Poles who were skilled in glass making. Unfortunately, their attempt to kick start the glass industry was cut short due to constant battles with the Indians and the food shortage that took hundreds of lives in the winter of 1609-10, known as The Starving Time. There were two other early attempts to create a glass industry at Jamestown, but both failed. In the end it was tobacco that made those in Virginia rich.

While the main attraction of the Glasshouse is the glassblowing demonstration area, just around the corner is an actual archaeological site of what is believed to be the 1608 glasshouse ruins. After originally being discovered in the early 1930s by the landowner, the National Park Service began an excavation of the glasshouse ruins in 1948 that turned up the location of four furnaces, a well, a clay pit, and a pile of glass debris.