Cambridge: Guernsey Glass Capital

Cambridge, Ohio sits at the geographic center of Guernsey County, which took its name from the Channel Island homeland of the families who settled here in the early eighteen hundreds. The town was platted in eighteen oh six and grew as a stop on the National Road. What made Cambridge distinctive came later: local deposits of natural gas attracted glass factories at the end of the nineteenth century.

Cambridge Glass, founded in nineteen oh one, became one of the most celebrated glassware makers in the country, known for elegant color combinations and intricate patterns, employing around seven hundred people at its peak. The company closed in the nineteen fifties, but collectors still prize Cambridge glass and an active museum keeps the history alive downtown. The county name, the immigrant families from Guernsey, and the glass tradition all give this small Ohio city a more layered identity than its size suggests.