Homer Laughlin born 23 March, 1843 in Little Beaver, Ohio, was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 businessman and potter

Pottery

Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...

 who, with his brother Shakespeare, formed the Laughlin Pottery Company in 1871 in East Liverpool, Ohio

East Liverpool, Ohio

As of the census of 2000, there were 13,089 people, 5,261 households, and 3,424 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,010.3 people per square mile . There were 5,743 housing units at an average density of 1,320.8 per square mile...

.

Laughlin Pottery eventually became the Homer Laughlin China Company

Homer Laughlin China Company

The Homer Laughlin China Company is an American pottery company based in Newell, West Virginia, which is best known for producing the Fiesta line of dinnerware.-History:...

. Shakespeare Laughlin left the company in 1879. In 1889, William Edwin Wells joined Homer Laughlin, and seven years later the two incorporated the company. Laughlin sold his interest to Wells shortly thereafter. The company moved operations across the Ohio River

Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

 to West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

 land purchased from the Newell family.

The Homer Laughlin China Co. moved all operations to the Newell, West Virginia

Newell, West Virginia

Newell is a census-designated place in Hancock County, West Virginia, along the Ohio River. It is part of the Weirton–Steubenville, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area. Newell is the northernmost settlement in the state of West Virginia. The population was 1,376 at the 2010...

location in 1907. Operations continue in that location today.