The McFaddin-Ward House

Historic House Museum in Beaumont, Texas

Sister, don't give up the land. They are not making land anymore.
W.P.H. McFaddin

Glitz, Gleam, and Glass

Now on display at our Visitor Center is a selection of brilliant glass pieces from the McFaddin-Ward House collection.

The collection contains hundreds of glass objects that belonged to Ida Caldwell McFaddin and Mamie McFaddin Ward. Over 200 of these pieces hail from the Blenko Glass Company in West Virginia and Steuben Glass Works in New York.

The McFaddins and Wards collected many beautiful Blenko Glass pieces

Englishman William J. Blenko, highly skilled in the craft of making mold-blown, stained glass windows, came to the United States in 1893. He founded the Eureka Art Glass Company in 1921, which later morphed into the Blenko Glass Company. Blenko began producing tableware and gained a reputation for good design and brilliant color.

Blenko Glass was favored by both Mamie and her mother, Ida

The Steuben Glass Works company was founded in Corning, New York in 1903 and soon rivaled the Tiffany Company in the design quality and color of its art glass. During World War I, the company suffered financially and in 1918 was sold to Corning Glass Works. Blenko glass is still produced today at its West Virginia location, while Corning Incorporated oversees the production of Steuben art glass.