Mercer Pottery

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The Database is organized by location, but you can find a pottery initially by searching for its name, which is at the top of the of the page with dates of operation below. Alternate names and the names of other potteries on the same site are noted at the top of the right-hand column, just above the pottery’s location.

The types of wares made appear below the pottery name in the left-hand column, followed by the references that informed these classifications.

Sample images of maker’s marks may be enlarged by clicking on the image.

Notes include a variety of information compiled from many standard sources and are presented as miscellaneous tidbits.

In the Gallery and Map Gallery in the right-hand column you will see historic images and insurance maps of the pottery’s facilities if available as well as historic advertisements and images of the wares made.

You can download more detailed information in all of these categories by choosing a PDF of the pottery’s full listing, which also includes the documentary sources. The PDF is text only and does not contain any images.  Data from the 1860, 1870 and 1880 industrial censuses area also included in the PDF if they exist for a given pottery. This data gives you a picture of the size of the pottery operation and the age and gender makeup of its work force.

You can help expand the database by contributing pictures and information. Contact POTS by the email address at the bottom of the page.

In operation    1875-1946

Wares

Cream colored wareElectricalHotel chinaTablewareToilet setsWhite granite

White granite and c.c. ware, also decorated goods, stone, porcelain and hotel ware (Main and Fitzgerald 1877)

Mercer China (Woodward and Hageman 1883:692-693)

Toilet sets (Everts & Stewart 1885)

Pottery ware (Industrial Directory 1906)

Porcelain ware (Industrial Directory 1909)

Dinner and hotel ware (Industrial Directory 1918)

General ware; electrical porcelain (Industrial Directory 1927)

Dinnerware (Industrial Directory 1931)

China, special and electrical porcelain (Industrial Directory 1938)

Electrical porcelain, porcelain specialties (Industrial Directory 1940-41)

Notes

“In the year 1875, Mr. James Moses (formerly secretary and treasurer of the Glasgow Pottery Company) purchased the establishment, and since that time he has continued to run it under the old firm name of The Mercer Pottery Company. A full line of the grades of ware manufactured, and which may be found at the works at all times, is as follows: White granite and C.C. ware, also decorated goods, stone, porcelain and hotel ware. Having an extensive decorating establishment on the premises, that branch of the business is a specialty.”

— Mains, Bishop W. and Thomas F. Fitzgerald. 1877-1879.  Mains and Fitzgerald’s Trenton, Chambersburg and Millham Directory: Containing the Names of the Citizens, Statistical Business Report, Historical Sketches, a List of the Public and Private Institutions, Together with National, State, County, and City Government.  Bishop W. Mains & Thomas F. Fitzgerald, Trenton, New Jersey.

 

Selected References

Mains, Bishop W. and Thomas F. Fitzgerald. 1877-1879.  Mains and Fitzgerald’s Trenton, Chambersburg and Millham Directory: Containing the Names of the Citizens, Statistical Business Report, Historical Sketches, a List of the Public and Private Institutions, Together with National, State, County, and City Government.  Bishop W. Mains & Thomas F. Fitzgerald, Trenton, New Jersey.

Mercer Pottery Co. 1880.  Manufacturers of Stone Porcelain, Thin Ware, Stone Porcelain Hotel Ware, White Granite, C.C., Decorated Ware, and Metal Topped Molasses Jugs, Trenton, New Jersey.  Mercer Pottery Co., Trenton, New Jersey.

“Among the Potters.” Trenton Evening Times, Sunday, November 15, 1885.

Harney, W.J. 1929. “Trenton’s First Potteries.” Sunday Times Advertiser, July 7, 14, 21 and 28, 1929.

Gaston, Mary Frank. 1994.  Collector’s Encyclopedia of Flow Blue China. Collector Books, Paducah, Kentucky.

Jasper, Joanne. 1996.  Turn of the Century American Dinnerware 1880s to 1920s.  Collector Books, Paducah, Kentucky.

Goldberg, David J. 1998.  Preliminary Notes on the Pioneer Potters and Potteries of Trenton, N.J.: The First Thirty Years – 1852 – 1882 (And Beyond).  Privately published, Trenton, New Jersey.

Other firms at this site:

Other Names

Mercer Pottery Company; Union Electric Manufacturing Company; Union Electric Porcelain Works, Inc.

Block and Lot:
39-1B/1

Historic Street Address:
Railroad Avenue near North Clinton Avenue; Railroad Avenue opposite Ott Street; Railroad Avenue near Perrine; 39 Muirhead Ave.; 19 Muirhead Ave.; 30 Muirhead Ave.; 27 Muirhead Ave; 31 Muirhead Avenue

Municipality:
City of Trenton

Image Gallery

1887 Mercer Pottery (Quarter Century's Progress p. 290)
Mercer Pottery transfer-printed ironstone china plate
Ewer (from wash set), press-molded white ware with hand-colored transfer print decoration, made by Mercer Pottery Company, 1875-1900, 10 in H. Collection of the New Jersey State Museum, CH1979.20

Map Gallery

Mercer Pottery, 1875 Everts & Stewart Map
Mercer Pottery, 1881 Robinson Map
Mercer Pottery, 1882 Haven Map
Mercer Pottery, 1886 Sanborn
Mercer Pottery, 1890 Sanborn Map
Mercer Pottery, 1890 Scarlett & Scarlett
Mercer Pottery, 1905 Lathrop
Mercer Pottery, 1908 Sanborn Map
Mercer Pottery, 1927 Sanborn Map
Map References

Everts & Stewart.  1875  Combination Atlas Map of Mercer County. Everts and Stewart, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  (Shown as “Mercer Pottery Co.”)

Robinson, E., and R. H. Pidgeon. 1881. Atlas of the City of Trenton and Suburbs New Jersey: From Actual Surveys and Official Records.  E. Robinson, New York, New York.   (Plate K: shown as “Mercer Pottery Co.”)

Haven, C. C.  1882.   A New Real Estate and Insurance Map of the City of Trenton Including Chambersburg, Millham, and Parts of Ewing, Lawrence, and Hamilton Townships, Mercer County. E.P. Noll & Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.   (Shown as “Mercer Pottery Co.”)

Sanborn, D. A. 1874.   Insurance Diagrams of Trenton. Corrected to 1886.  D.A. Sanborn, New York, New York.  (Plate 12: shown as “Mercer Pottery Co.”)

Sanborn‑Perris Map Company.  1890.   Insurance Maps of the City of Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey. Sanborn‑Perris Map Company, New York, New York.   (Plate 15: shown as “Mercer Pottery Co.”)

Scarlett & Scarlett.  1890.   Scarlett & Scarlett’s Fire Insurance Map of Mercer County.  Scarlett & Scarlett, Newark, New Jersey.   (Plate 57: shown as “The Mercer Pottery Co.”)

Lathrop, J. M. 1905.   Atlas of the City of Trenton and Borough of Princeton. A.H. Mueller & Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  (Plate 9: shown as “Mercer Pottery Co.”)

Sanborn Map Company.  1908.  Insurance Maps of the City of Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey, Volume 1. Sanborn Map Company, New York, New York.  (Vol.1, plate 36: shown as “Mercer Pottery Co.”)

Sanborn Map Company.  1927.  Insurance Maps of the City of Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey. Sanborn Map Company, New York, New York.   (Vol. 1, plate 53: shown as “Mercer Pottery Co.”)

Franklin Survey Co.  1930.  Real Estate Plat‑Book of the City of Trenton and Borough of Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey. Franklin Survey Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.   (Pate 30: shown as “Mercer Pottery Co.”)

1880 Census

Name in censusMercer Pottery
Capital100000
Number of hands200
Males above 16125
Females above 1525
Children50
May to Nov hours10
Nov to May hours10
Skilled wages2
Ordinary wages1.25
Total wages in year75000
Full time months9
3/4 time Months3
Value of raw material75000
Value of product200000
Number of engines1
Horse power75