In 1669, the Munsee Indian Tribe aided the Esopus people in attacking the Dutch colonists and were defeated by Martin Cregier in the Esopus Wars. By a fraudulent treaty known as the Walking Purchase, the main body of the Munsee was forced to move from the Delaware River about the year 1740. They settled on the Susquehanna River, on lands assigned them by the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois, 'ökwé'ö:weh - "The only true men"). Soon afterward they moved west, joining the main Lenape Indian Tribe settlements on the upper Ohio River.
Our story also begins in the 1740s when Samuel Paden Sr., a Dutch Quaker and family had migrated from Padenburg, Scotland to Lancaster County Pennsylvania. Obediah Paden Sr. was born in 1752 in Lancaster County, Pa. Obediah Paden, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, married May 11, 1776, to Esther May Dunn he and his bride travelled west along the Ohio River. Paden purchased the land from Robert Woods for $1,333. It is traditional information that at the time Obediah Paden (or Peden) erected his first log cabin here atop a large hill above what is today called Paden Island on the Ohio River. And that it was the only residence or home of a white man between the settlements of Wheeling, West Virginia and Marietta, Ohio. He owned about five or six thousand acres of land, which he willed to his sons, James, Jesse, Joseph, and Samuel. When he came here all the present site of Paden City was woodland infested with savage Indians, wild animals, especially the panther. Obediah Paden acquired Paden Island according to oral story by out scheming the Indian Chief of the Munsie. who lived on it. The Chief of the Munsie long admired and coveted a gun and powder horn owned by Paden and one morning came to tell him how, in a dream, these things had been presented to him by Paden. As Indian custom required that Paden, make the dream come true, he did so but was then thoughtful for several days. A week later he told the Chief of the Munsie about a dream that he Paden had had in which the Indian had given him the island. Chief Munsie surrendered the island they loved, but afterwards told Paden, "no more dreams." The Munsie Indian Tribe is presumed to be the Tribe after whom the city of Muncie, Indiana is named.
The history of the Paden City Pottery Company and the town of Paden City, West Virginia, are interwoven so tightly it is impossible to separate the story of both. In 1901 a group of businessmen form Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania were hunting for a town site. The Ohio river valley was a right industrial center and they planned to form a land company, lay out a town, invite industries to locate and reap profits from their investments. However, there had been serious floods along the Ohio and many of the so-called safe river villages were inundated. Therefore, the first requisite for the new town had to be high ground and if possible, natural gas.
Obediah died about 1822 and is buried in Stender Cemetery. It was said many years ago that the stones are impossible to read., bought a parcel of land from Robert Woods near the Ohio River on the edge of the northwest corner of West Virginia. Obediah built a home, began his life as a farmer. and, with his wife, raised their family.
The history of the Paden City Pottery Company and the town of Paden City, West Virginia, are interwoven so tightly it is impossible to separate the story of both. In 1901 a group of businessmen form Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania were hunting for a town site. The Ohio river valley was a right industrial center and they planned to form a land company, lay out a town, invite industries to locate and reap profits from their investments. However, there had been serious floods along the Ohio and many of the so-called safe river villages were inundated. Therefore, the first requisite for the new town had to be high ground and if possible, natural gas.
All of their requirements were found in three farms bordering the river and owned by a man named Paden. The company purchased the land, plotted the town and named it Paden City in honor of the original owner. When the work of organization was successfully under way, the company formed the town's first industry, The Paden City Pottery Company. The president of the pottery was George R. Wallace, a Pittsburgh attorney. The pottery had a five kiln capacity and while they were of the most modern type then available, it required twenty-one days to make and fire the ware. Their original line was kitchen and art ware in brown and white.
Paden City is a city in Tyler and Wetzel counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. It was founded in 1902. The population was 2,550 at the 2020 census. The town was named for Pennsylvania-born Obediah Paden, a local landowner. Nearby Paden Island and Paden Fork were also named for this individual, and the entire region, when owned by Paden, was known as Paden's Bottom.
Initially the pottery made art ware and kitchenware in brown and white. In the 1920s Paden City Pottery began making high quality, semi-porcelain dinnerware. The pottery was a pioneer in the production of semi-porcelain and its use of state-of-the-art spraying equipment to apply popular colored glazes. A commitment from the owners and management to continually purchase new equipment to speed up the production process helped the company stay successful even during the great depression.
The pottery continued producing until early 1957 when, for no apparent reason, the decision to close the plant was made. In October 1957 they closed the doors and sold the molds and much of the equipment to Salem China Company.
Some of the early patters were Americana, Buttercup, Shenandoah, Cascade, Confetti, Caliente, Blue Willow, Highlights, Elite, Regina, Manhattan, Sally Paden, Virginia, New Virginia Shell Crest and PAPOCO. The date of production is on the back and is the first twelve letters of the alphabet with A as January, etc. The year of production is the last two numbers of the year such as 52 for 1952.