Thursday, August 11, 2011

Zanesville Pottery Fire 1909 Mystery

Here is a picture found Selma's photo.  It is dated 1909, they were living in Zanesville.  I am sure if you watch Antiques Roadshow you have heard of many of the art potteries in Ohio:  Roseville, McCoy, Hull, or Weller.  I guess I didn't realize that Zanesville was one of the centers of this industries in Ohio. 

"The area around the towns of Roseville, Zanesville, and Crooksville was the other Ohio pottery hotspot.  This southeastern Ohio region is rich in clay, and its pottery history goes all the way back to the Native Americans.  When European settlers came to the area, they set up "bluebird" potteries in their backyards and sheds.  Naturally, there were entrepreneurs who saw the pottery’s profit potential, and an industry was born.  McCoy, Weller, and Roseville were some of the first potteries to establish successful businesses in the area that would eventually be known as the "Pottery Belt" and "Clay Corridor." Ohio Art Pottery

The only pottery fire I could find in Zanesville in 1909 was the Brush Pottery.  Some references stated it happened in late 1908 and others state 1909.  I imagine this photo was taken after the fire.

Here is information about George S. Brush and his pottery:


...located near the Muskingum River bank in the  Putnam section of town. There, beginning in 
1906, he produced kitchen ware and sanitary ware, most notably the Lucille Toilet Ware line, 
named for his young daughter (Mrs. Clare Barnett). Fire also plagued this original Brush Pottery, 
for the one-kiln plant burned to the ground in the winter of 1908.
In 1909, George Brush joined the J.W. McCoy Pottery. Prior to that time he had established a pottery under his own name. However, the pottery only operated about one
year before a fire destroyed the entire plant. The Brush Pottery was not rebuilt. Later in the year his pottery burned, George Brush became the Manager of the Globe Stoneware Company, and the Crooksville Clay Products Company.
Within two years after joining the J.W. McCoy Pottery, George Brush had become the General Manager of the pottery , but he retained the remaining assets of the Brush Pottery. In October of that year, the directors of the McCoy pottery decided to expand by the purchase of the Globe Stoneware Co. (1901-1911).
During August of 1911, George Brush, acting on behalf of the Brush Pottery interests, purchased the old J.B. Owens Pottery, Plant Number One in Zanesville (1883-1909), along with the equipment and molds.
Late in 1911, the officers of the J.W. McCoy Pottery, at the suggestion of George Brush, agreed to combine the assets of the company with those of the Brush Pottery, and rename the pottery, theBrush-McCoy Pottery.

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