ABOUT US

Welcome to the National Westmoreland Glass Collectors Club.

In the late 1880s, the Specialty Glass Company of East Liverpool, Ohio was seeking to move its operations due to persistent flooding. A site in Grapeville, Pennsylvania thirty (30) miles East of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was selected for a new glass company called the Westmoreland Specialty Company. Pittsburgh brothers George and Charles West, along with Major Irwin, who was connected with the Specialty Glass Company were the initial officers of the company. Property was purchased along the Penn Rail line, and the factory was built. After the first few years of the factory struggling, Major Irwin was replaced with Pittsburgh investor, Ira Brainard. The West Brothers started the glass company not knowing whether it would survive. The company changed its names to the Westmoreland Glass Company in the early 1920s. The West Brothers operated the company until Charles West retired in 1937. The Brainard family controlled the company until President J.H. Brainard, grandson of Ira Brainard, retired in the early 1980s and sold the company to David Grossman. The company thereafter closed its doors on January 1, 1984. Today we know that company, which produced it's wonderful glass for nearly 100 years, as Westmoreland Glass Company of Grapeville, Pennsylvania. Just imagine how proud those men would feel if they were with us now. Those men didn't just start a company. They touched all of our lives by giving us the beautiful handmade glassware we all collect and cherish.

On October 7, 1969 a group of Westmoreland Glass collectors gathered and founded what is now the National Westmoreland Glass Collectors' Club. The main goal of the NWGCC is to enrich and preserve the history and glass of that company through a quarterly newsletter, monthly meetings and annual convention so members can share information. By expanding our knowledge and educating all those who are interested we will be able to keep Westmoreland Glass alive through our collections and in our hearts. We invite you to join us in continuing where the founders of that company left off.

The mission of the National Westmoreland Glass Collectors' Club is to promote the appreciation for the artistry and craftsmanship of Westmoreland glass and to continue the preservation of this important part of American history.