It all began when English immigrants from the pottery-making region of Stoke-on-Trent settled along the Ohio River—where the borders of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia converge. They soon discovered the clay buried 8 to 15 feet below the surface and knew they had found the potter’s equivalent of a gold mine.
In 1840, Englishman James Bennett opened the town’s first commercial pottery. In the years that followed, more than 200 other pottery factories were started in East Liverpool, producing everything from yellow ware to elegant bone china. By the turn of the century, the pottery industry had turned East Liverpool into a wealthy and bustling Victorian town, and one of the largest pottery-making centers in America.
The grand old days of East Liverpool began to fade in 1929. With the simultaneous misfortunes of the Great Depression and an influx of cheaper wares from overseas, many local factories began to close. Pottery remains the pride of East Liverpool today, however, and the town is on a rebound.
Companies such as Hall China Co., Pioneer Pottery, and Homer Laughlin China Co. employ about 2,500 people, and many are highly skilled workers.
Homer Laughlin—which makes both institutional china and a popular dinnerware called Fiesta Ware—is the largest pottery producer in the area, employing about 1,100 people. Founded in 1871 in East Liverpool, the pottery has since moved across the river to Newell, W.Va. Homer Laughlin prides itself on its attention to detail and its skilled employees.
“For the volume that we produce, there’s a surprising amount (of work) done by hand,” says Dave Conley, the company’s sales and marketing director.
East Liverpool’s finest pottery is on display at the Museum of Ceramics, which allows visitors to see exhibits from the industry’s beginnings to the present. The museum features an elaborate display of pottery, ceramics, and china produced in the region, including water pitchers, teapots, hotel ware, tureens, bowls, fancy toilet sets, whiskey jugs, and vases. It also offers a slide show for visitors interested in the region’s history and the specifics of pottery making.
Another glimpse into the town’s past is offered by the Thompson House—a two-story, antiques-filled Victorian mansion owned by pottery baron C.C. Thompson. The mansion is being restored by the East Liverpool Historical Society and is open for tours.
“East Liverpool is a community that has seen prosperity and hardship,” says Laura Zeh, a historian and employee of the Museum of Ceramics. “Right now there are a lot of people who love the community working to see that good times return.”
The downtown is being renovated, deteriorating buildings are being restored, and some of the hopeful spirit that has been a hallmark of East Liverpool is being rekindled. The town’s revival can be attributed to people such as Frank Dawson, owner of Dawson Funeral Home.
In 1986, community leaders approached the 65-year-old East Liverpool native about displaying an antique clock taken down in 1969 when the old high school building was demolished. To fund the project, Dawson helped establish the 9,000-member East Liverpool High School Alumni Association, and before long, a new 126-foot clock tower was erected downtown. It has become a symbol of the town’s spirit.
“Our town has made a really nice comeback,” Dawson says, “and I think it will continue to improve.”
