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The museum will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 9 - 10, 2010, due to a major winter storm passing through the area.
Learn about the Museum of Ceramics
We are celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the construction of the Museum of Ceramics, which started off its life as the main post office in East Liverpool in 1909. Read the full text of the Ohio Senate Commendation of our 100th Anniversary, or click  here to view it.

On behalf of the members of the Senate of the 128th General Assembly of Ohio, we are pleased to commend the East Liverpool Post Office Building on the auspicious occasion of its One Hundredth Anniversary.

This is an important milestone, and celebration is certainly in order. Opened to the public on June 15, 1909, the East Liverpool Post Office Building was purchased by the State of Ohio in 1970 in anticipation of the development of a museum, and it was reopened in 1980 as the Museum of Ceramics. The museum offers exhibits that depict the growth of the ceramic industry in the area from 1840 through 1930, and it has become one of the community's most vibrant and venerable institutions.

In this modern era, in which the durability of goods and values is often measured in months and days rather than in years, it is not only enlightening but also satisfying to discover that some representations of the past still stand for future generations as a record of, and a monument to, previous achievements. We are certain that in years to come, the East Liverpool Post Office Building and the Museum of Ceramics will continue to make postive contributions to the surrounding area while standing as an example of the rich heritage of bygone days.

Thus, with sincere pleasure, we pay tribute to the East Liverpool Post Office Building on its One Hundredth Anniversary and salute all those associated with the Museum of Ceramics as fine Ohioans.

Signed:
Senator Bill Harris, President of the Senate
Senator Jason H. Wilson, Assitant Minority Whip
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Welcome

The Museum of Ceramics contains thousands of examples of pottery created in and around East Liverpool, Ohio.  During the 19th and 20th centuries, East Liverpool was known as the Pottery Capitol of the USA.
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Learn about Lotus Ware
Calendar of Events
Timeline of History

1834:   East Liverpool incorporated

1839:   English potter James Bennett establishes first commercial pottery in East Liverpool, using local clay to produce yellow ware and Rockingham

1840:   the first of the Harker potteries is established, which would continue to exist until 1972

1840s:   influx of immigrants from Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, England, to work in the potteries in East Liverpool

1847:   Jabez Vodrey moves to East Liverpool

1870s:   easy access to superior clay allows whiteware to become the main product of the East Liverpool potteries

1870:   Knowles Taylor Knowles pottery is created

1870:   population of East Liverpool is 2,000

1871:   Homer Laughlin China Company is formed in East Liverpool by Homer and Shakespeare Laughlin

1880s:   KT&K, with 29 kilns, is the largest pottery in the USA

1892:   KT&K introduces Lotus Ware, the finest porcelain ever produced in the USA. Production ended in 1896

1893:   Lotus Ware wins multiple awards at the World's Fair in Chicago

1900:   East Liverpool is known as "America's Crockery City" and more than 90% of wage earners in the area are involved in the pottery industry

1903:   Hall China Company is formed

1907:   Homer Laughlin moves across the Ohio River to Newell, WV

1909:   East Liverpool Post Office is built, later to become the Museum of Ceramics

1910:   population of East Liverpool is 20,000

1910:   Tariffs removed on foreign imported pottery, marks the beginning of the decline of East Liverpool pottery industry

1929:   Great Depression forces the closure of dozens of potteries

1929:   KT&K closes

1970s:   William H. Vodrey III spearheads plan of creating a museum in East Liverpool devoted to the history of the ceramics industry

1976:   The old post office, soon to be Museum of Ceramics, is placed on the National Register of Historic Places

1980:   The Museum of Ceramics opens

2000:   population of East Liverpool is 13,089

2008:   Ohio Historical Society cuts funding for the Museum of Ceramics by 93%, and the Museum of Ceramics Foundation takes over management of the museum

2009:   Museum celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the construction of our building
Museum Hours
Tuesday - Saturday 9:30am to 3:30pm
Closed Sunday and Monday
Adults $4 and Students/Children $2

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About the Museum-click here  Become a MEMBER!-click here  Museum Hours-click here

In 2008, the Museum of Ceramics lost most of its funding from the Ohio Historical Society. Please consider making a donation today to enable the Museum of Ceramics to continue its work.

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Disclaimer

Copyright © 2002-2009. All Rights Reserved.
Photographs copyright Catherine S. Vodrey (www.WordBanquet.com).

The Museum of Ceramics, 400 East Fifth Street, East Liverpool, Ohio 43920
Telephone: 330-386-6001 or 800-600-7180 ~ Email


ACCESS INFORMATION

The Ohio Historical Society strives to meet A.D.A. requirements. However, historic structures provide challenges that make it difficult to provide complete access to all visitors. At the Museum of Ceramics we are currently partially accessible. A wheelchair lift on the southeast corner of the building provides access to the Main Level, including many exhibits, the Gift Shop, and the Theater. There is no access yet to the museum's Lower Level except via a flight of stairs. The Museum's restrooms, located on the Lower Level, are not yet accessible for people who use wheelchairs. We apologize for the ways we are inaccessible; we are working to rectify these issues.

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