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Canonsburg Pottery
Canonsburg Pottery was started in 1900 as the Canonsburg China Company by John George. In 1909, the name was changed to the Canonsburg Pottery Company. The company remained in the George family until 1975, when it was sold to Angelo Falconi. It closed in 1978.
Information about the various potteries in Canonsburg can be found on James Herron's web page. That page also includes several photos of the company. The company was located between Meadow Lane and Harrison Street on the eastern side of Taylor & Crawford's lumber yard.
By 1910, the pottery had 13 kilns (7 ware kilns and 6 decorating kilns), employing 200 people. The clay arrived from several states and even other countries, and was delivered via the railroad by means of the track through the Fort Pitt Bridge Works property. A branch of the spur that served the pottery, continued across Orchard Avenue into the Taylor & Crawford lumber yard.
A second factory was built in between the creek and the railroad in Canonsburg's west end, near Strabane, finished in 1911, also employing 200 people. It measured 150' x 450'. It was officially called Plant #2 but commonly known as the "upper pottery", since it was upstream. In 1912, this second plant was bought by W.S. George and was renamed the W.S. George Pottery Company, owned by the parent company in East Palestine, Ohio. Both companies primarily produced dinnerware. While run by members of the same family, they were two separate corporate entities. Canonsburg Pottery stopped production in 1977 due to foreign competition and heavy government regulations. Also, it suffered a devastating fire in 1975.