River Hopping 2017:
Bedford China | Bailey-Walker | Walker
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| The grounds of the plants are now home to Star Leasing, 24400 Solon Road in Bedford Heights. The shards we found were all along the railroad track. |
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| Above, looking out at the paved parking lot. Below, the view from the parking lot to the railroad track and the old water tower. |
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| Above, the beautiful Bedford Historical Society and Museum at 30 Park in Bedford. Below, director Dana Best-Mizsak graciously invited us – and Zephyr and Tilde – in out of the heat. |
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| Below, Chris Sweet stands in front of the museum's display case devoted to Bailey-Walker and Walker China. Chris has an astounding collection of Walker ephemera she's worked very hard to put together, plus more than 3,000 pieces of china she dug from the Walker site years ago. |
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| Our small collection of shards includes the one seemingly airbrushed design and on the left a Bedford China backstamp, the forerunner of Bailey-Walker. |
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| Google map of the site, showing Tinker's Creek running behind it. Latitude and longitude: 41.385154, -81.505849. Bedford Heights is located close to Cleveland and Lake Erie. |
Finding the site of the shared Bedford China, Bailey-Walker and Walker China plants was easier than most because we had help.
The director of the Bedford Historical Society & Museum, Dana Best-Mizsak, put us in touch with longtime Walker researcher – and fellow digger – Chris Sweet. Knowing where to begin, we just had to ask nicely for permission to walk around the grounds, though ultimately every shard we found was along the railroad tracks running in front of the business at 24400 Solon Road.
Then we stopped by the Society to enjoy some stories, see Chris' notebooks and quickly photograph the collection of mostly rare and certainly hard-to-find china. They also have a copper decorating cylinder on display as well as a Bailey-Walker Blue Willow toaster, a piece we'd only seen in photos.
Click here to see our admittedly poor photos of what is quite a lovely collection of Bailey-Walker and Walker China at the Bedford Historical Society & Museum.
Next, on to Fraunfelter in Zanesville.
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