North elevation image taken by Becky Snider and Debbie Sheals, January 2000, per NRHP Nomination Form.Photo byB. Snider and D. Sheals, NRHP Nomination Form.

The John Glaser Pottery Factory was at 812 W. Front Street in Washington, Missouri. It was also known as the Archibald S. Bryan Building. On September 14, 2001, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and on August 26, 2006, it was delisted.

I’m always curious about why a historic building is delisted. Sometimes it's due to a fire or demolition, but because it once represented a part of a community’s history, it's still worthy of being remembered because it was linked to people. Sometimes, too, the cost of restoration or historic rehabilitation is beyond reach.

About the building

The John Glaser Pottery Factory was an old one-story pottery factory building. It was constructed around 1878 or 1879 by Riverboat Captain Archibald Bryan. It was also expanded in about 1890. This building had a basement and was a heavy timber frame building following the Fachwerk form. This building was located near the river and railroad tracks. It was in operation until around 1901 and converted to residential use.

This building was leased to John Glaser for the operation of a pottery factory. It was a large rectangular building on a stone foundation. At the time it was nominated for the National register, only part of the building served as a residential purpose.

This building was important because the construction was of a German method known as Fachwerk. It's believed it was one of the largest documented buildings following that method in any of the Missouri German areas of settlement.

According to Cabana Magazine, Fachwerk literally means compartment construction. It refers to the German's construction of a half-timbered building. "Humans have been using this construction method since Roman times, from England to Japan. However, Germany probably has the most, and the best, examples worldwide..." (Source.)

There were eventually structural issues with the building as well as roof leaks which likely caused further damage to the interior. Like any other historic building, if these issues don't receive attention, it leads to deterioration and ultimately demolition. In 2002, this building was listed as being endangered by Missouri Preservation.

The John Glaser Pottery Factory was important because of its association with an industry, its architecture, and ethnic heritage. The historic building served as Glaser's pottery factory until he died on July 6, 1909, at age 84.

While Glaser had a factory operation in the building since it was built, he wasn't the original owner. The first owner was a riverboat captain named Archibald S. Bryan (1831-1900). It's believed Bryan had the building constructed for speculative reasons. In the first few years, it was leased to Glaser and eventually sold to him in 1881.

Since Glaser's business was in close proximity to the railroad tracks, it's believed this enabled Glaser to ship his products. Once he expanded the building, this allowed his factory to fulfill larger orders.

By 1919, the new owner of the building was August Stumpe who used the building for residential purposes.

When it was nominated for the National Register, the layout of the building included a kitchen and two bathrooms. Most of the building was vacant.

Thanks for reading.