The Bell Pottery Company
Findlay, Ohio

The story

This little known pottery establishment was formed in 1888 and lasted until 1906. The Bell Brothers company was formed out of a partnership of 3 men - William M. Bell, Edward F. Bell & Henry W. Flentke. The Bell brothers grew up in Wheeling, West Virgina and in 1880 moved to East Liverpool to run a glass jobbing business. This venture was quit successful and gave them the knowledge and skills they would need to form a pottery producing company. They were lured to this Northwestern Ohio town due to the discovery of natural gas in great quantities. The local Findlay trustees were advertising free land, free gas & a $10,000 cash incentive to the first pottery plant to remove their works and employ at least 100 persons.

The building

In early August of 1888 fifty teams & a hundred men were put to work clearing the land for the building project. The factory would be located on the northern end of town. The main building was to be 140 feet by 40 feet deep. It would stand 3 stories tall. A second building 120 feet square, and only one story would house the six large kilns. A third building had a 120 foot frontage & was 100 feet long. The last structure was 50 feet square and would be used for molding & drying. All of the foundations were made of local limestone & the main structures were of brick. By November of the same year all were under roof & the actual enormity of the factory could be seen.

"Click Here" to see what the building looked like.

A gas boom town

Findlay was truly turning into a boom town, not only attracting this pottery, they also got over 20 different glass houses and lots of other industry. The population went from around 4000 to over 15,000 in just a few short years. Who would have thought the gas would dwindle out so quickly. And with its demise, so did many of the factories.

The Bell plant lived through the gas issues by converting its main uses to coal, however they dealt with many other problems that were typical from that time frame. The buildings did not have the technology & safety standards we have today.
In mid May 1893 a large wind storm completely removed the roof from the 3rd floor of the south building. In the center building only 1 of the 6 kilns were left standing. Several other walls collapsed causing a few of the employees to be injured. Thank goodness, no one was killed! The total loss was more than $8,000.00.

Internal problems between the 3 partners

By the end of August 1893, a lack of orders caused an almost complete shutdown of the manufacturing facility. The owners were feuding, and finally the courts had decided it would be best to sell the property. Mr. Flentke, then living in Evansville, Indiana, came back and stopped the sale from occurring.
July 23rd 1894, Mr. William Bell reported that the internal troubles that has caused the Bell Plant to be shut down for a year now are resolved and that operations will be back in production soon. Then in late December of 1895, the Commissioners ordered the sale of the property & machinery again for no less than $30,000.00.
Mr. Henry Flentke is now no longer part of the Bell Brothers partnership. The two remaining brothers ended up buying the factory back for $36,450.00. The year is now 1896 and the plant, for the most part, has been at about 1/3 of production for 2 years.

Then in 1899 it happened again, this time the suit was filed against the American Pottery Co. trust which was being formed. So as you can see the company definitely had its internal problems.

Finally some good news!

Early in 1899 the Bell Pottery Company starts having some great business. The company has even called back their 2 traveling salesmen, (Mr. Curry & Mr. Jackson) because they can't keep up with the orders they have now, let alone anymore additional. This is the best business they have experienced in years. At this point the brothers decide it would be to their best interest to start doing improvements to the factory. Currently the plant has been running on just 3 of the 6 kilns, The older 3 are in a bad state & these will be relined and repaired, also a new decorating kiln will be put in. The company spent $40,000.00 on these needed repairs. Another nice feature was updating the lighting. Most older buildings still had gas style lamps for their employees to see. However the Bell Plant has just converted to the new electric style lights. This will be a great aid to the workers, especially in the decorating departments. Last of all, the plant will be hiring additional work hands, They have been running with about 150 men, but are hoping to expand to around 250 as soon as possible. It is hoped that these needed improvements will aid in the terrific current business.

More building problems

April 26, 1900, The South end of the Bell Pottery Company is destroyed by fire. This was the 3 story portion that contained the packing room, ware room & the decorating rooms. Most of the offices were located at this side of the building as well. The total loss was set at $50,200.00 and they only received $39,350.00 from insurance companies. Then a month later another bad storm hit. Lightning struck knocking down two of the huge smoke stacks that were for the decorating kilns.
Rebuilding the damaged stacks & completely rebuilding the south end structure took place immediately. This process took 4 or 5 months.
Business was still very good and the plant was turning out some really nice wares. Many of these were put out to compete with the nicest Havilland. The plant also took on a completely new line dealing with electrical supplies. These were small tubes that came in different sizes that were used to run wire through brick walls.

"Click Here" to see examples of electrical tubes. These were dug at the original site. The longest of the three is 3 1/2 inches in length.

A new plant in Columbus, Ohio

With the Bell Pottery Company having this growth issue at hand, they had to consider a larger facility. The company heads first considered building another plant in Findlay, however that never came to be. In February 1902, Mr. William Bell found his way to the Columbus area prospecting for the perfect location. They settled on a spot on the eastern side of Columbus which is known as "Bexley" today. This new addition is to be laid out and called "Bellwood". It will be built up with houses to accommodate all of the Bell Pottery employees. Each house will cost $2500.00 & will be furnished with water, gas & electricity. In all, 140 acres of land were purchased and plotted with lots and streets for the new factory grounds. The new plant will consist of 17 different buildings and have 12 kilns to start and will be increased to 24 at its peak. It is anticipated that nearly 600 hands will be employed. This is over doubling the size of the old Findlay site. The company will have the best equipment that money can buy. It will be the best and largest pottery company in the United States.

May 1902, William Bell dies

Just as things starting going well for this company again, the bottom fell out. Mr. William Bell, one of the founding brothers passed away. Mr. Bell had been operated on the day before due to a large gallstone. Complications found the bladder to be ruptured, causing death. Mr. Bell was only 46 years old at that time. He was also scheduled to be married to Miss Kate Turley in the very near future. The body way taken to a receiving vault at Maple Grove Cemetery and later moved to Liverpool, Ohio in January 1903.

It is assumed that the Columbus Plant was in operation for a short while, but this information isn't known for sure. Also it isn't known if that plant carried a different stamp on the bottom from the Findlay versions.
One thing is for sure, The Bell Pottery Company was a very important part of the history of pottery in Ohio.
Yes, they did make alot of just plain heavy china, but they also made lots of very impressive 'one of a kind' masterpieces!

It should be noted that this story would never have been possible if not for all of the extensive research that the late Don Smith compiled. He was truly one of "Findlay's Finest"!

"Click Here" to see an article that came out of a Findlay newspaper. It talks about a tour through the new plant and the many steps that are needed to produce pottery of this quality.

Bell Brothers made lots of very nice hand painted examples! Some of the tankards & mugs would compete with the nicest china in the country!

"Click Here" to see a close up of the shards.

I created this web site for you, the "common researcher" who is striving to gain additional knowledge. For years now, I have enjoyed studying about Findlay and the industry that came out of the gas boom days. It was truly an unforgettable time frame. I am in hopes that this site may kindle a spark in you as this town did in mine. Please take what you've learned and pass it on to others. After all, history is something that should never be forgotten!