In 1973, the Seneca Glass Company factory received national attention when it was recorded by the History American Engineering Records West Virginia Survey. The drawing on the front, from that record, is of the part of the complex constructed before 1947. A documentary film of the factory in operation was also made at that time. In 1982, Seneca Glass Company was sold and the name changed to Seneca Crystal Incorporated. In August 1983, the firm filed bankruptcy, and much of the company’s inventory and equipment were sold. Sanders Floor Covering Incorporated purchased the building in 1984.

In 1985, the building of the former Seneca Glass Company was placed on the National Register of Historical Places, recognized as a building significant in American history. The nomination stressed not only the importance of the technology of glass making, particularly as it was done at Seneca, but also the building’s architecture, the firm’s finished product, the skilled workers, and the neighborhood that grew up around the factory.

Today, the former Seneca Glass Company building is known as Seneca Center, a complex of retail stores. It is being adaptively reused, with many of the larger areas divided. Much of the original character of the building has been retained, however, and the magnificent old furnace and many interesting tools as well as murals of the glass making process are record of the company’s industrial heritage.

From material prepared by Dolores A. Fleming Associates, History Contractors, 1988.