Mitchell & Bissell Company Pottery

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HOW TO USE THE DATABASE

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    1919-1941

Wares

Textile & plumbing porcelains (Industrial Directory 1927)

Porcelain guides (Industrial Directory 1931)

Porcelain guides for textile machinery (Industrial Directory 1934)

Bathroom fixtures, porcelain guides for textile machinery (Industrial Directory 1938)

Porcelain guides & wire guides for textile machinery (Industrial Directory 1940-41)

Notes

City directories indicate that the Mitchell-Bissell Company was operating elsewhere between 1917 and 1919 (on Prospect Street near the Pennsylvania Railroad, probably on the Standard China site) before moving to this site.

Selected References

Fitzgerald, Thomas F. 1920-1938.  Fitzgerald’s Trenton and Mercer County Directory, Together with a Directory of Bordentown, Burlington, Mount Holly and Lambertville, NJ.  Thomas F. Fitzgerald, Trenton, New Jersey.

New Jersey Bureau of Statistics and Records, Department of Labor. 1927.  The Industrial Directory of New Jersey. Trenton, New Jersey.

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

New Jersey Bureau of Statistics and Records, State Department of Labor. 1931.  The Industrial Directory of New Jersey.  Trenton, New Jersey.

New Jersey Bureau of Statistics and Records, State Department of Labor. 1934.  The Industrial Directory of New Jersey.  Trenton, New Jersey.

New Jersey Bureau of Statistics and Records, State Department of Labor. 1938.  The Industrial Directory of New Jersey.  Trenton, New Jersey.

New Jersey Bureau of Statistics and Records, State Department of Labor. 1940-41.  The Industrial Directory of New Jersey.  Trenton, New Jersey.

Other Names

Mitchell & Bissell Company; Mitchell & Bissell Pottery Works

Block and Lot:
229E/23

Historic Street Address:
Brunswick Avenue and Heil Avenue; 825 Brunswick Avenue

Municipality:
City of Trenton