East Liverpool, Ohio, is an Ohio River city at the point where the river first defines the state's border with West Virginia and Pennsylvania (see map). Its population is just over 13,000 people (as of the 2000 Census) and a drive in and around town masks the national, if not international, importance the town played for an entire industry. The decaying buildings and factories struggle to find tenants and uses, but a century ago East Liverpool was the place to be if you wanted to succeed in ceramics (see right, click to enlarge).
Founded not long after Ohio was first
settled, East Liverpool's birth was in 1800 as the town of St. Clair until the 1830's and a transition to its modern name (more history here). An English potter, journeying from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati in 1840, stopped at East Liverpool and was impressed that the outlying land was rich with clay. He abandoned his journey at set up shop and soon the area swelled with potteries (see left, click to enlarge). By 1860 over 20 different companies had set up in town with the tell-tale conical brick kilns serving as a unique quasi-skyline along the river. Potteries continued to grow in numbers through the 1880s, where at one point in time over 50% of all pottery in the U.S. was being manufactured in East Liverpool.
The town was a thriving economic center and a sketched map (the Google Map of its day) showed a city stretching far and wide with little vacant land (1876 picture here). Overlooking the river, the (then) modern school was a large, three-story building with matching bell towers. Today the only remnants of that structure is a non-descript, single-story Board of Education building sitting in the footprint of the former school with one bell tower serving as a bridge between the past and present (see left, click to enlarge).
The former U.S. Post Office has been creatively turned into the the Museum of Ceramics (see right, click to enlarge), an Ohio Historical Society property managed locally by the Museum of Ceramics Foundation.
Originally opened in 1909, the post office featured ornately decorated domed ceilings (see left, click to enlarge) and a beautiful marble and terrazzo floor. In 1970 the post office moved across town and the State of Ohio purchased the building in anticipation of a museum that began later on-site in 1980.
The museum is a traditional museum (see left, click to enlarge), where there are many displays and dioramas, but there is little hands on for younger visitors. A small theater offers a short video on the growth of the pottery works in the region and the different types of pottery found on display in the museum.
The wide array of pottery showcased ranges from simple every day uses to luxury and elite works. There is a large sample of Lotus Ware on display, which is considered the finest porcelain made in the U.S. (see right, click to enlarge)
The first signs of decline in the industry came from the increase in indoor plumbing and bathrooms. The traditional washroom of a chamber pot, container and pitcher used for cleaning up were no longer the standard in most homes. By 1900 a large portion of clay was being brought into East Liverpool rather than dug locally, but the industry still flourished.
As with a lot of industry in Ohio, companies moved on to greener pastures by the mid 1900s and East Liverpool has since struggled to find economic success. The population topped out at 25,000 in 1950 and has steadily declined since. But proximity to both Pittsburgh (one hour)
and Cleveland (90 minutes) still place East Liverpool in a good location and there is still pottery manufacturing in town. While PNC bank may now operate in the centennial (1881) Potters Bank and Trust building (see left, click to enlarge), the library built by industrialist Andrew Carnegie (see right, click to enlarge) still operates 100 years later and appears ready to take on the next 100.
-J.
No comments:
Post a Comment