Oregon Pottery Company
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Ceramics manufacturing |
| Predecessor | Smith and Company Pottery, Buena Vista Pottery Works |
| Founded | 1866 |
| Founder | Freeman Smith, Amedee Smith, Freeman Smith Jr. |
| Defunct | 1911 |
| Headquarters | Buena Vista, Oregon; Portland, Oregon , United States |
Area served | West Coast of the United States |
| Products | Stoneware jars, jugs, sewer pipes, vitrified pipes, bricks |
Number of employees | 25–50 (circa 1871) |
Oregon Pottery Company was established in 1866 in Buena Vista, Oregon. At that time, it stood as the largest pottery manufacturer on the West Coast, producing stoneware items such as jars, jugs, and sewer pipes from 1866 until 1897 in both Buena Vista and Portland.
History
After Oregon became a state in 1859, settlers in the Willamette Valley sought sturdy clay containers for storing and preparing food. Pioneer Freeman Smith arrived in the region in 1851 and, together with his sons Amedee and Freeman Jr., founded Smith and Company Pottery by 1866 close to Albany, Oregon. Their facility was located along the east bank of the Willamette River, an area rich in high-quality clay deposits. They engineered their own equipment and kilns, employing between 25 and 50 workers by 1871 who were involved in activities such as clay extraction and kiln operation. Their early output consisted of robust salt-glazed pottery featuring slip-glazed interiors, identified solely by their capacity markings.
The company initially faced challenges marketing their products but gained momentum when a local retailer bought an entire shipment of stoneware priced at fifty cents per gallon capacity. Producing locally offered a cost advantage over imported stoneware from eastern regions.
Around 1870, the business was renamed Buena Vista Pottery Works, with Amedee Smith becoming the sole proprietor. The company transitioned to producing lighter slip-glazed stoneware and adopted mass-production methods utilizing templates to maintain consistency. The workforce included four potters and ten laborers responsible for mixing clay. By 1872, they had begun manufacturing sewer pipes.
The designation Oregon Pottery Company appeared in the mid-1870s and was officially incorporated under this name in 1884. By this period, glass containers had largely supplanted stoneware for household use.
In 1883, the company expanded operations to Portland by opening a new three-story facility equipped with six kilns dedicated to producing vitrified pipes, while pottery production continued at Buena Vista until that site closed in 1886. The clay used in Portland was sourced from banks along the Lewis and Clark River.
Following a fire that destroyed the Portland factory in 1890, Amedee Smith constructed a larger brick plant. After his death in 1897, his son restructured the enterprise as Western Clay Manufacturing Company. As glass and tin containers increasingly replaced pottery products, the firm redirected its efforts toward manufacturing brick and sewer pipes until it was sold for $1 million in 1911.
Excavations at the Buena Vista location took place during the early 1980s; artifacts recovered are curated by Portland State University, while company documents are maintained by the Oregon Historical Society.