Ohio Pottery History

Ohio pottery history: Southeastern Ohio was among the first areas of the nation’s interior to be settled in the late 1700’s following the Revolutionary War. The Ohio River Valley was a path for early pioneers and a birthplace for pottery given its accessible water transportation and availability of essential raw materials, clay and sand. Ohio’s pioneer farmers, construction of the Ohio & Erie Canal, and the production of pottery shaped Zanesville, a river town founded in 1797. Zanesville’s pottery industry grew out of necessity, the pioneer farmers’ need for inexpensive containers and tableware, made possible by rich local clay and sand deposits. Watertight containers were necessary to transport crops, grains, and other farm products up the Ohio & Erie Canal destined to the eastern markets of Philadelphia and New York, and as far south as New Orleans. “Bluebird” potteries, owned by farmers, were worked between fall and spring. Called “Bluebird” because production ended when bluebirds returned from the south in spring, farmers returned to their fields, and the local clays could be mined again in preparation for fall production. By 1850 as many as 41 “Bluebird” potteries were producing in the Muskingum County area, at which time full-time commercial pottery manufactures began to emerge.

During the early 20th century, the Industrial Revolution took hold of Zanesville, coal-fired steam operations developed, electricity became available and the ceramics industry grew. Factories producing all types of household stoneware products grew rapidly, feeding a consumer demand across the nation. Some of the area’s early pioneers in the pottery industry included Sam Weller, the Roseville Pottery Company, J. B. Owens Pottery, the Mosaic Tile Company, McCoy Pottery Company, and Robinson Ransbottom.