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Archaeologists have found pottery in West Virginia dating to about 1000 B.C. It changed the way prehistoric people lived because it allowed them to store food more efficiently.
It has played an equally essential role in modern times. Pottery—such as plates, bowls, and other ceramic items—has been an important industry in West Virginia. It’s still significant today, especially in the Northern Panhandle, where the Homer Laughlin China Company makes very popular and collectible dinnerware. Some artists around the state also make special handmade pottery to sell as crafts.
In early America, people used red clay--the color was due to the iron content--to make pottery with a shiny lead glaze. However, it was very breakable and didn’t travel well, so many towns made their own locally. In what is now West Virginia, at l...
Some areas had stoneware clay, which is stronger because it’s fired at very high temperatures. By the late 1800s, potters had learned to make salt-glazed stoneware with blue decorations. Around 34 potters made items such as crocks, jars, jugs, and...
A. P. Donaghho was a potter and businessman born in 1829 in Pennsylvania. He moved to Parkersburg and started his pottery business there in 1874. Donaghho used a potter’s wheel and made salt-glazed stoneware with cobalt blue designs. His pots ofte...
In the early 1800s, American potters tried to improve their pottery to compete with cheap English imports. They made yellow ware with a brown glaze called Rockingham. From 1848 to 1857, the Larkin brothers in Newell (Hancock County) were the first...
By the early 1900s, American potteries had learned to make strong white earthenware, like the dinner plates we use today. Companies like Trenle Blake in Ravenswood and H. R. Wyllie in Huntington also made dinnerware in the 1920s.
In the 1920s, West Virginia was the third-largest pottery producer in the U.S., led by the Homer Laughlin China Company in Newell (Hancock County). Founded in 1873 by Homer and Shakespeare Laughlin in East Liverpool, Ohio, the company later moved ...
The Carr China Company started in 1913 in Grafton (Taylor County) as a local project to create jobs. The original company went bankrupt in 1916, but Thomas Carr took over and renamed it after himself. It became highly successful in making dishware...
Before home indoor plumbing arrived, West Virginia potteries made sanitary items like pitchers, basins, chamber pots, and soap dishes. Later, they began making sinks and toilets. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, companies such as La Belle and Ri...
Clay mining was a major industry in West Virginia for over 140 years. Clay was used to make bricks, tiles, and pottery, and many counties had large operations. Hancock County had the best clay and became the brick and tile capital of the U.S. star...
This Exhibit has 20 Sections
This Exhibit has 10 Sections