In the 1840s, Batsto’s iron industry was failing because new iron industries using coal and iron ore, or magnetite, outcompeted production based on charcoal and bog ore, or limonite. Seeking another profitable industry, Jesse Richards built a window glass factory on this site. Although nothing remains today, the Batsto Glass Factory stood here, where sand, lime, and wood for fuel were abundant. The factory used the cylinder sheet method to make window glass and panes, called lights, for street lamps. In 1852, the city of Camden was lit for the first time with thousands of lamp lights manufactured at Batsto. Glass making was a labor-intensive and expensive process, and over time frequent fires, increasing customer complaints, and the death of Jesse Richards in 1854 brought an end to Batsto’s once thriving glass industry.