Factory Site
Why it's listed
Robinson-Ransbottom Pottery occupies a five-acre site in Ironspot, a village in Muskingum County, Ohio, beside Moxahala Creek. The plant is a group of interconnected, mostly brick, one- and two-story industrial buildings. Early photographs show a V-shaped layout, and later additions filled the space inside the angle. A former straw house now serves as the company's retail outlet, the Pot Shop. The only building that does not look industrial is a one-story brick office from about 1912, with a small Doric portico. The whole production line, from clay storage to shipping, has been on this site for more than seventy years. Surviving equipment includes early periodic kilns, two of which predate the pottery from an earlier brick company on the site, and continuous kilns installed in the early 1930s. Workers still decorate by hand and form ware by jiggering and casting, along with machine forming. Reviewers valued the company's output of decorative clay objects and gardenware.
Significance in brief: The pages provided have no Section 8 text. Reviewer notes in the form describe the Robinson-Ransbottom Pottery as a very successful production company, significant in making decorative clay objects, gardenware and similar goods. The factory is nominated as part of a thematic group with houses of the Ransbottom brothers who owned it.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 80003183, listed March 11, 1980. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Moxahala Creek, Ironspot |
|---|---|
| County | Muskingum County |
| Listed | March 11, 1980 |
| Reference number | 80003183 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Industrial complex; office building described as having a Neo-Classical Revival flavor |
| Areas of significance | Industry |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition marked excellent and altered; the factory remains in pottery production on site. |
| Acreage | 5 |
| Coordinates | 39.82033, -82.06405 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 80003183.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.