Pottery industry chocolate pot, produced by Knowles, Taylor, & Knowles The
potteries of East Liverpool became the national center of
ceramic toilet and table wares, with 85 firms operating at one time or another making two-thirds of the national output from 1880 to 1950. East Liverpool's pottery district encompasses the city itself and the surrounding towns of
Chester, West Virginia;
Newell, West Virginia; and
Wellsville, Ohio. In 1887, East Liverpool had 21 general ware potteries that employed 2,558 operatives. By 1923, the city's 17 pottery firms had 7,000 employees and operated 270 kilns, with $25 million in annual output (equivalent to $ million in ). At various times, some of the largest potteries included the
Goodwin Baggott Pottery; Knowles, Taylor & Knowles; Taylor, Smith & Taylor;
The Hall China Company; and
Homer Laughlin China Company. Englishman James Bennett established the industry in 1839, making use of good transportation and rich local clays. It quickly became the community's leading industry. East Liverpool became known as "The Crockery City".
Potters from Staffordshire, England, began pouring into East Liverpool, attracted by higher wages and the prospect of land ownership. By 1879, there were 24 potteries in East Liverpool, nearly all operated by
English immigrants. As late as 1900, East Liverpool remained "essentially a transplanted potting town of Englishmen". Until the turn of the century about 85% percent of the population could trace its heritage to England. After the English, the second largest ethnic group in East Liverpool were
German settlers. From 1870 to 1890, the city more than doubled in population each decade as it attracted new industrial workers with the growth of the pottery industry. In the mid-19th century, East Liverpool produced most of the
yellowware pottery used in the United States. Among the most famous of East Liverpool's ceramics was the porcelain known as
Lotus Ware. Produced by Knowles, Taylor & Knowles in the 1890s, this
Moorish- and
Persian-influenced artware swept the competition at the 1893
World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The
Museum of Ceramics in downtown East Liverpool has the world's largest public display of Lotus Ware. Two potteries continue to operate in the area: the American Mug & Stein Company and the
Fiesta Tableware Company, formerly Homer Laughlin.
Holly Black's ceramic-themed novel
Doll Bones is set in East Liverpool due to its history in the industry.
Other businesses In 1979, a
toxic waste incinerator was proposed in the city's East End neighborhood. Local investors believed the incinerator could be an alternative to the declining ceramics industry. However, the ambiguity regarding its potential impacts on public health and the environment led to protests against its construction. In 1991, a march against the incinerator's construction resulted in 33 people, including actor
Martin Sheen, being arrested for trespassing. Despite a pledge from Vice President
Al Gore that the Clinton administration would prevent the incinerator from opening until its compliance with state and federal regulations was confirmed, the plant was completed in 1992 and began operating as Waste Technologies Industries the following year. In 2005, the
Environmental Protection Agency declared the area surrounding the incinerator and the S.H. Bell Company's metal facility a "potential
environmental justice area". East Liverpool residents were found to have higher than normal levels of manganese, cadmium, and lead in their blood, and the community was considered to be in a health crisis due to the presence of these toxic elements. Government agencies worked with S.H. Bell Company to decrease the toxic metals being released into the surrounding air and land, and from 2006 to 2013 air quality improved. In 2014, hazardous and toxic particles in air quality assessments increased. Activism to reduce the toxic waste began. ==Arts and culture==