Three Rivers Glass Company — About Page

Source: https://threeriversglass.org/about Fetched: 2026-07-25

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Heading: “About Three Rivers Glass” Date shown on page: Jan 1, 1922

The factory was established in 1922 by Charles R. Tips (b. 1892), who also founded the town. It was positioned where three rivers converge — the Frio, Atascosa, and Nueces.

Operations & Products: The facility used local natural gas for power and nearby quartzose sand as raw materials. The company manufactured bottles for beverages and jars for food and cosmetics, noted for combining “commercial quality with a distinct artistic flair.”

Success: Within years, the operation achieved substantial market dominance in Texas, reaching “annual gross sales of roughly one million dollars” during the 1920s.

Closure & Legacy: Ball Glass Company purchased the business in 1937, leading to plant closure in 1938. The operation lasted approximately fifteen years and demonstrated industrial viability in the region. Today, pieces with the company’s mark are sought by collectors. A Texas Historical Commission marker was installed at the site in 1973.

Footer: Copyright ”© 2026 Your name here. All rights reserved.” (placeholder site copyright, not yet filled in) — attribution links to Astro (Mastodon, Twitter, GitHub).

Note on Duplication

This page repeats the same core facts as raw/articles/2026-07-24-three-rivers-glass-company-homepage.md in different wording (founding year, Tips’ birth year, river confluence, raw materials, sales figure, 1937 sale/1938 closure, 1973 marker). It adds no facts not already captured from the homepage or the richer primary sources ingested since (Tips’ own letters, period press, Michael David Smith’s 1989 book). Kept as a separate immutable raw source per wiki convention, but compilation should not treat it as independent corroboration beyond “the site’s own copy is internally consistent.”