 A thriving glass making industry developed in Medford as early as 1825 with a glass making furnace making window panes.By 1850, William Porter was operating a glass factory on a triangle of property formed by South Main Street, Mill Street, and Trimble Street.Glass making operating continued on the property throughout the 1880s under company names including Medford Glass Works and Star Glass, which at its peak employed about 250 workers and built up a "company town" of sorts with houses for owners and managers and housing for workers.