East Liverpool, OH (8/24/2013)

Saturday, August 24, 2013
Heading east to the Ohio River valley, we stopped in Rogers, OH for the largest flea market in the tri-state area (Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia). Unfortunately, that happens only on Fridays.
Continued to East Liverpool, Ohio which seems to have more than its share of buildings on the National Register of Historic Sites.
Carnegie Public Library (219 E 4th Street):

The first library in the state of Ohio funded by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) with $50,000. Carnegie spent much of his childhood with relatives in East Liverpool. Designed by Charles Henry Owsley, construction began in 1900 using Roman mottled buff-brown brick trimmed with white tile. The library was dedicated in 1902, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It still serves as the city's library.
Mary A Patterson Memorial Building  (next to the library on E 4th Street):

Built in 1924 by industrialist Monroe Patterson as a memorial to his wife. It was a home for working women from 1932 to 1984. The building was purchased by the Friends of the East Liverpool Campus (of Kent State University) in 1989, and now a state-of-the-art learning center with a community room and art gallery.
The former YMCA (Washington and E 4th Street):

Designed by Cassius Metsch and built in 1913 in Classical Revival style, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
W. L. Thompson Music Store (across 4th Street from the YMCA):

Constructed in the 1880s by Will L Thompson for his music business. Thompson composed "Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling" and other popular songs such as "Gathering Shells from the Seashore" and "under the Moonlit Sky." Thompson sold the building to his nephews who later operated the Smith and Phillips Furniture store here.
This building definitely looks out of place:

Many of the streets are still made of yellow brick:

Some sidewalks are overgrown with weeds:

Farther at 115/117 E 4th Street, the Traveler's Hotel:

The city's oldest surviving hotel, designed by Cassius Metsch and built in 1907, it was originally the Landora Hotel. In 1934, during the hunt for Pretty Boy Floyd , FBI Special Agent Melvin Purvis used the Travelers Hotel as his headquarters. It was also used by performers at the Ceramic Theatre which used to be across the street.
The Hot Dog Shoppe (320 Market Street):

A downtown institution since 1963, the Hot Dog Shoppe may not be on the National Register of Historic Sites, yet.
The Hot Dog Shoppe's multi-purpose sign:

A cheddar chili dog and fries:

Note that the cheddar cheese is the liquidy kind!
Former Salvation Army Citadel:

Built in 1908-09, it is reported to be the first such structure built exclusively for the use of the Salvation Army.
Ye Olde Car Washe:

View of the Newell Bridge across the Ohio River connecting East Liverpool to Newell, WV:

Built in 1904 by the American Manufacturing Company which also owned the Homer Laughlin China Company.
Phytolacca americana/ American Pokeweed:

133 W 4th Street (Gustav Bendheim Residence):

Colonial Revival design with Victorian Romanesque porch.
Originally the Erlanger Residence, then the former Sturgis Funeral Home (122 W 5th Street):

Its claim to fame is having displayed the body of Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd in October 1934. Now it is a Bed & Breakfast.
Wow, you could park all day for $1.00:

Elks Club (137 W 5th Street):

Built in 1916, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Designed by Holmboe & Lafferty in Colonial Revival style with a large portico entrance, Corinthian columns, and cornice with modillion blocks.
W 5th Street appears to be lined with churches:

Large Victorians on W 5th Street::

Stone bench:

The B'nai Israel Temple (W 5th and Monroe Streets):

Built in 1921-22, now the Beth Shalom Congregation:

East Liverpool City Hospital (425 W 5th Street):

Birthplace of Ada and Mike!
First Evangelical Presbyterian Church (6th and Jefferson Streets):

Built in 1907 with some interesting stone:

Quirky house on W 6th Street:

Ikirt House (200 W 6th Street):

Constructed in the late 1888 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, it combines the irregular massing of Queen Anne style, the decorative elements of the Eastlake style, and the mansard roof of the Second Empire period.
There is a small canopy over the main entrance and the double doors have scribed floral decorations:

City Hall on W 6th Street:

Designed by Charles Owsley and built in 1934 using sandstone as a project of the Civil Works Administration, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Stylistically, the building is an example of Art Deco architecture that was prominent in the 1930s:

Odd Fellows Temple (120 W 6th Street):

Built in 1907 with classical detailing on the cornice, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
A current resident at the Odd Fellows Apartments:

The Diamond Historic District (Market, E 6th and St Clair Streets) was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
Three streets come together to form a small triangle park, dedicated to former Mayor William A Devon:

J. C. Thompson Building:

Built in 1884 with a corner turret in flamboyant style, it originally housed the Crosser and Olgivie store.
The next area was the Fifth Street Historic District which was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
Knowles Block:

Opened in 1910, it housed the Ogilvie Department Store.
Former Potters Bank & Trust Company (5th and Washington Streets):

Built in 1924 in NeoClassical Revival style.
I.O.O.F Building (also at 5th and Washington Streets):

Built in 1874 by the Robert Hall Lumber Company, it is believed to be the oldest surviving commercial building in East Liverpool. It was the first location for the Odd Fellows in the city.
Locke's Building (5th and Broadway):

Opened in 1880 as a men's clothing store.
Former East Liverpool Post Office (5th and Broadway):

A Beaux-Arts structure designed by architect James Knox Taylor and built in 1909. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Out front is a marker for the Lincoln Highway:

America's first trans-continental road route was opened in 1915.

We visited the Museum of Ceramics housed in the former Post Office.
Quite the potters' wheel:

Fiesta dinnerware:

This particular color has been discontinued due to the radioactivity of uranium oxide.
The Laughlin Pottery Company started in East Liverpool in 1871, later becoming the Homer Laughlin China Company which opened a facility in Newell, WV in 1903. By the 1920s, all production moved to Newell, and it was in 1936 when the company introduced the Fiesta line.
Downstairs in the museum:

Just like in China!
Carrying a saggar on his head balanced on a potter's donut (under his hat?):

Goodwin-Knowles House (422 Broadway):

A Colonial Revival structure built in 1890 for James Goodwin who died before it was completed. It became the residence of Homer Knowles, also from a leading pottery family. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, it is now a Masonic Temple.
George Washington slept here:

The Colonel and his surveying party camped near here (the Masonic Temple) when they were looking for land to grant to the soldiers who served in the French and Indian War.
There are some properties listed on the National Register that no longer exist, such as the Potters National Bank Building and the Homer Laughlin House.
Pretty far from downtown is the Richard L Cawood Residence (2600 St Clair Street):

Built in 1923 by Cawood, president of the Patterson foundry, in Italian Renaissance Revival style with Spanish influences. The front entrance is framed by Ionic columns and there is a Spanish tile hip roof. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Cassius Clark Thompson House (305 Walnut Street):

Built in 1876 in a Late Victorian form of the Italianate style of architecture, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

Broadway Wharf:

The Ohio River:

We drove east to the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.
The U.S. Public Land Survey Beginning Point:

The memorial is 112 feet from the original survey mark. It is significant as being the point from which the Public Land Survey System was performed, starting in 1785, which would open what was then the Northwest Territory for settlement. The memorial was built in 1881 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.
The Hall China Company (1903):

You can see the top of one of the three bottle kilns left in the area.
Hall China is the only pottery/dinnerware factory remaining in East Liverpool:

The Goodwin-Baggott Pottery (2nd and Market Streets):

Built in 1844 and listed on the National Register of Historic Place in 1971.
A bottle kiln:

Large iron braces hold the kiln together as it tries to expand with all the heat:

At one time there were 300 bottle kilns in East Liverpool, when it was the pottery capital of the nation.
Next: Wellsville, OH.