The beautiful Ohio River Valley is the setting for the City of East Liverpool, a great place to visit with many activities for the tourist.  Located on the north shore of the Ohio River in Columbiana County (named in honor of Christopher Columbus and Queen Anne), it lies at the point where the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia meet.

East Liverpool in its earlier times was known by the native Indian tribes of the area as one of the prime hunting grounds in the Ohio River Valley. These native Indian tribes included the Onandagas, Oneidas, Mohawks, Cayugas, Senecas and Tuscaroras. Later they were succeeded by the Delawares, Miamis and Shawnees.

A great treaty was made between the six powerful Indian nations from the north on one side and the eastern and western tribes on the other. The council for this treaty took place at a large flat rock on the beach of the Ohio River a short distance from the mouth of the Little Beaver Creek, about one-half mile east of East Liverpool.

At this great council the tribes agreed to cease their wars and live peaceably together from the Alleghenys to the Mississippi. To confirm the treaty several of the Indian chiefs drew a symbol in the rock. The Onandagas drew a spider, the Cayugas an eagle, the Oneidas a forked stick, the Mohawks a bear, the Shawnees a turtle and the Senecas a wild goose. From the time of this treaty until 1775, the East Liverpool area was mainly inhabited by the Mingoes and the Cayugas.

In May of 1758 Col. George Washington captured Fort Duquesne, renamed it Fort Pitt and later that year (June or July) made a voyage down the Ohio River, camping on what is now known as Babbs Island. Legend says that encumbered with too many provisions he buried a barrel of crackers there to keep them from falling into the hands of the Indians. On October 17, 1770, George Washington returned to the area, this time camping near what, according to some beliefs, is the current location of the Museum of Ceramics at E. Fifth Street and Broadway in downtown East Liverpool.

At the southeast edge of East Liverpool, the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia meet. At this site on September 30, 1785, Thomas Hutchins, Geographer of the United States, began the survey of the NorthWest Ordinance. This line, the "point of beginning" for the survey, eventually ran 42 miles, "Seven Ranges," due west from that point.

The survey was one of the new nations major undertakings and had a significant impact on the States now known as Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. The objective of the survey was to bring order and government to the frontier country. An historical monument near the Point of Beginning commemorates the event.

The first permanent settlement in Columbiana County was made in 1792 by John Quinn, a hunter and trapper who built a cabin in the area now known as Calcutta, which borders East Liverpool to the north.

The land in and around East Liverpool was purchased from the government by Isaac Craig under the terms of the Land Act of 1796. In 1798 Thomas Fawcett purchased 1,100 acres of land along the Ohio River including the East Liverpool area from Isaac Craig and settled there with his wife and 8 children. He paid $3,651 for the land. Fawcett believed that the area was a choice location and would attract settlers because of the abundance of natural resources.

Fawcett laid out plans for a city to be called St. Clair, in honor of Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the Northwest Territory at the time. His plan was the foundation of the city of East Liverpool we know today. The early settlers referred to the area as Fawcettstown, which is what it was called until 1816. In that year it was changed to Liverpool by nostalgic English potters who migrated and settled in the area. However, in 1834, when the community was incorporated, the name changed to East Liverpool since a town in Medina County, Ohio was already named Liverpool.

East Liverpool developed into the city that we know today due mostly to the production of pottery that began in the late 1830's and especially with the building of the Bennett Pottery by James Bennett in 1840. Bennett had been a packer in a yellow ware pottery in Woodenbox, Derbyshire, England before he immigrated to America. He stopped in Cincinnati and after hearing about the abundant clays in the Upper Ohio Valley and talking with a merchant from the area, William G. Smith, he decided to take a visit. He determined that the clay was an excellent quality to make yellow ware, but having no money, he interested Anthony Kearns and Benjamin Harker in investing in the building of a pottery along the Ohio River in East Liverpool.

Prior to this era East Liverpool was a struggling community. Most of what you can see in East Liverpool today came from the great growth that was the result of the Bennett enterprise. Built on the west end of 2nd street opposite Kearns' sawmill the building was about 40 feet by 20 feet and had one kiln. This ground has long been swept into the river through erosion of the north bank of the river, but the pottery itself was dismantled and used to build another pottery.

In the early spring of 1840 the first batch of yellow ware was produced, consisting mainly of mugs. This ware was peddled across the Ohio Valley by Isaac Knowles, then 21, who purchased 2 crates of the ware and by Bennett himself who sold the remainder. Bennett and his partners made a total of about $250 on the deal.

Initially early settlers were wary of the new product preferring the quality associated with English ware. However, in a short time the reputation and quality of the pottery made in East Liverpool spread and the industry thrived.

Although other individuals had used the natural clay resources to produce pottery in the East Liverpool area, Bennett was the first to successfully manufacture and market this product. Potting in those days was a rugged operation; all work was done by hand and "throwing" on a potters wheel was the only method of forming the ware.

The owner would then market it in wagons around the countryside or on trading boats down the Ohio River. He would trade his wares for anything he felt that he could dispose of back home in East Liverpool. Upon returning from a successful trip the "help" would be paid with these bartered goods and work would begin on another batch of ware to be fired in the kiln (pronounced kill).

Other potteries sprang up rapidly and soon East Liverpool was known as "Crockery City", the only community in the United States wholly devoted to the manufacture of pottery.

Today, East Liverpool and the surrounding area which includes the communities of East Liverpool, Calcutta and Wellsville in Ohio, and Chester and Newell in West Virginia, have only a few of the potteries left which helped develop the area. Other industries have added a diversity of products.