Riverview Crockery City, Lisbon, Ohio

East Liverpool, Ohio, once lovingly referred to as the “Crockery City” and the “Pottery Capital of the World,” is the classic definition of... more

by Janice Pariza

Title

Riverview Crockery City, Lisbon, Ohio

Artist

Janice Pariza

Medium

Photograph - Photography Art

Description

East Liverpool, Ohio, once lovingly referred to as the “Crockery City” and the “Pottery Capital of the World,” is the classic definition of the Rust Belt. Much like Pittsburgh with its reliance on steel mills and Cleveland with its manufacturing plants, East Liverpool was dependent around the pottery industry because of ample natural resources, access to newly laid railroads, the Ohio River, and an untapped market.

East Liverpool boasted of 21 potteries that employed 2,500 workers by 1887, ballooning to 7,000 workers in 17 potteries working 270 kilns by the 1920s. With an annual output worth $25 million, the city made the claim that it produced more than half of the United State’s annual ceramics output.
The pottery industry in the city peaked before the Great Depression of the 1930s and waned through the remainder of the century. Several factors led to this decline, namely the city’s location. The unforgiving terrain that surrounded the city acted as a geographical barrier towards expansion. Land values were also far higher than the surrounding countryside and towns due to the lack of developable land and railroad access was difficult to obtain due to the density of the river valley.

Some companies began to close when manufacturing innovations, such as the tunnel kiln, became cost-prohibitive. New competing products, such as Pyrex and plastic, and increasing foreign competition, caused less efficient companies to shutter. Only six dinnerware potteries and a handful of ceramic manufacturers remained in East Liverpool by 1940. By the end of the 20th century, only three potteries remained in the region.

The demise of the city’s primary industry has caused the population to drop from a high of 26,000 in 1960 to just over 10,000 today. With that decline came a loss of related businesses and industries — and the loss of identity. The American Dream, once attainable for so many in the working class, has become elusive; the region is now one of the poorest in the nation. Traditional, high-paying blue-collar jobs have been replaced mostly with marginal positions in the service industry.

One of the most unique abandonments in East Liverpool is the Riverview greenhouse, owned and operated for many years by Frank and Rosa Bosco. Designed by local architect Robert Beatty in 1935, the English Tudor-styled building replaced an earlier structure that had been destroyed by fire.

Riverview had become the largest orchid grower and shipper in the United States by the 1950s. The company boasted 100 full-time and 100 part-time employees.

In 2006, Riverview was acquired by a new family and the business relocated to Sixth Street in 2008. The beautiful English Tudor building and greenhouses were abandoned.
Visible for miles around is the Crockery City, a former brewery named after the city’s famed pottery industry. It opened in September 1900. The brewhouse was the tallest structure in Columbiana County at the time of its completion and had a capacity of 30,000 barrels of lager and ale per year.

All sales of alcohol became illegal in the state of Ohio in May 1919. In response, the Crockery City Brewing was renamed the Crockery City Ice and Products Company, producing just soft drinks and ice. In October 1919, Crockery City Ice and Products acquired the Tatgenhorst Brothers dairy, organizing a new subsidiary, City Pure Milk and Ice Cream Company.
At the end of Prohibition on April 7, 1933, the brewery reopened. It made available 3.2% beer on April 15 and other selections later in the year. Modern brewing equipment was soon installed, increasing capacity to 65,000 barrels per year. The bottling house was rebuilt, enlarged and modernized over the years. New aging cellars were built in 1948, followed by the addition of automatic refrigeration units in 1950. New steam boilers were added in that year, eliminating all smoke from its smokestack, aiding the smoke abatement program that was underway in East Liverpool.

Financial difficulties forced Webb to declare bankruptcy in September 1951 and the brewery closed on February 9, 1952. United States Federal Tax Agents arrived at the plant shortly after and poured approximately 700 barrels and 9,000 cases of untaxed beer into the Ohio River.

PURCHASE OPTIONS:
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Uploaded

September 5th, 2021