Stoddard Glass was important to the town of Stoddard from 1842 when Keene glassblower Joseph Foster purchased the molds and glass making tools of a failed local operation. This began an industry of more than three decades. The factories in the town produced common utilitarian bottles that were used throughout the New England area. Stoddard glass industry survived for 31 years in the mid nineteenth century. Most of the glass produced there was dark in color, with amber and green being the most common hues. The glass industry in Stoddard began to decline in the 1870s when gas and coal fueled glassworks in other area proved cheaper than Stoddard’s wood-fired furnaces. Also by this time chemical means were available to produce colored glass and no longer was specific sand needed to produce a desired hue.
