AV 128 Phoenix Fire Clay Company and Malvern, Ohio Photograph Album

              AV 128
Phoenix Fire Clay Company and Malvern, Ohio Photograph Album
Page 1
OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Manuscripts/Audiovisual Collections
AV 128
Phoenix Fire Clay Company and Malvern, Ohio Photograph Album
1887-1938
OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION
Number:
AV 128
Title:
Phoenix Fire Clay Company and Malvern, Ohio Photograph Album
Creator:
Unknown
Dates:
1887-1938
Media:
Photograph album
Quantity:
0.5 cubic feet
Location:
Ohio Historical Center
HISTORICAL SKETCH
Malvern is a small village in Carroll County, Ohio. The city developed around the potteries and small business in the area. The images in the album seem to be related to the development of the Robinson Clay Products Company a pottery which grew out of many smaller potteries. John Kratz established the first brickyard around 1885. Images of this brickyard are found in the album and are titled “The Phoenix Clay Company.” This name seems to be a short lived name after a fire of the company in the late 1880’s. John Kratz joined Ross Rue and created Kratz & Rue, a company known for making the first paving bricks in Ohio. They later developed into a large sewer tile and brick manufacturing company. The album holds newspaper clippings and photographs regarding the Malvern Clay Co. and The Kratz and Rue Company workers. In 1920, The Robinson Clay Products Company merged with the largest manufacturer of stoneware, the Ransbottom Pottery, and became the Robinson Ransbottom Pottery. The product lines were expanded at that time to garden ware and a broad range of house wares.
Source:
Phoenix Fire and Clay Company and Malvern, Ohio Photograph Album, AV 128, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio.
E-mail correspondence with Jason N. Lombardi, member of the Malvern Historical Society, Malvern, Ohio.