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(Excerpts of this historical story were taken from the 1897 Centennial Souvenir Book of Steubenville and Jefferson County and issued by the Herald Publishing Co. It was compiled by J.H. Andrews and was illustrated by C. P. Filison.)
STEUBENVILLE – Twenty-five citizens of Steubenville were responsible for organizing a business in 1879 that increased in capacity twice in 10 years. In 1889, two additional kilns were added to Steubenville Pottery Co. to make a total of seven, with buildings enlarged and extended and more decorating kilns put in, making a total of six of the decorating variety.
The first board of directors of the company included W.B. Donaldson, president; James Marion, secretary and treasurer; and W.R.E. Elliot, Alfred Day and J.B. Salmon, board members.
The original plant was a three-kiln pottery with two small decorating kilns. The excellent quality of the ware turned out was soon recognized by the trade and the business grew.
The building occupies a tract of ground at the intersection of South Street and the P.C.C. and St. Louis Railroad. There are side tracks that extend into the building. The company also owns its own cooperage plant and makes all the casks and cooperage used in the business.
When running full, the works employs more than 200 people, all of whom are good American citizens. The pottery that amounts to over $200,000 a year is confined to dinner plates and toilet sets of porcelain, granite and semi-vitreous Canton china. (Note. Toilet sets are vanity sets that are placed on the dresser or in a place of honor in the bathroom.)
Over 75 percent of the product is decorated and the Steubenville decorated ware has gained for itself a reputation for beauty and general excellence second to none that is manufactured in the United States. The latest toilet set produced has been named “The Roswell” in honor of James Ross and Bazaleel Wells, who founded the city of Steubenville a century before.
Perhaps the most attractive toiletware put on the market by the company is an underglazed Mazarine blue in delft designs which has been exceptionally well received by the trade.
Toy tea sets, toy toilet sets, oatmeal dishes, berry sets, melon-shaped jugs, Columbia syrup cans, olive dishes, debris dishes and jadinieres are some of the other pottery that can adorn a well-set table. Jadinieres are a type of vase and a very complete set of dishes included dishes for berries for dessert; long-shaped olive dishes; debris dishes to put in pits removed from olives or fruits, plus meat bones; and the vases with a complicated name.
The pottery ware was shipped into every state in the union from Maine to California and from the lakes to the gulf.