Side A: In 1910, Nelson McCoy Sr. established the Neleson McCoy Sanitary Stoneware Company on Gordon Street in Roseville. The company made utilitarian stoneware using regional and local clay. In 1933, the company name became the Nelson McCoy Pottery Company and production was shifted to decorative wares. Nelson McCoy Sr. was President until 1945, Nelson Melick from 1945-1954, and Nelson McCoy Jr. from 1954-1981. The constantly changing product lines were expanded in the 1950s as the annual output grew to ten million pieces. WIth five hundred employees, the company became the nation’s leading artware pottery. The pottery had a tremendous influence on the local economy as well as on the lives of its employees. The plant closed in 1990 after eighty years operating under the Nelson McCoy name. The products of this successful company remain highly collectible.