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Hampton Hall Apartments, 166 N. Ditheridge Street (Photos courtesy of Michael Padwee unless otherwise noted)
HAMPTON HALL APARTMENTS, PITTSBURGH, PA/
A NEMADJI TILE INSTALLATION
The Hampton Hall Apartments were designed by architect H. G. Hodgkins and were built in 1928. The building was converted to a condominium in 1984. The entire lobby and foyer floors (between the outer and inner doors) are covered with tiles produced by the Nemadji Tile and Pottery Company, Moose Lake, MN. "Nemadji started out in 1923 as a ceramic tile company in Moose Lake, a town in the Arrowhead region of Minnesota at the rural junction of State Hwy 73 and Interstate 35. The name comes from a word in the native Ojibway Indian language meaning “lefthanded,” and it was how the tribe dubbed a local river in Holyoke, Mn., now called the Nemadji River. The tile company was successful at first, landing contracts for government buildings and other office buildings. Then came the stock market crash of 1929. In that year the company was purchased by Eric Hellman, who decided to capitalize on the Nemadji name by introducing a line of Native American style pottery to sell to the tourist trade." (Arthur Schwerdt, "Rustic and charming, Nemadji Pottery’s time has come", Cape May County (NJ) Herald.com, Jan. 22, 2009; http://www.capemaycountyherald.com/article/39096-rustic-and-charming-nemadji-pottery’s-time-has-come)
One-third of the tiled surface in the lobby.
"The Pottery was first made using the rich clays taken from the banks of the Nemadji River. The special painting technique used to give the pottery its unique look was developed in 1929 by Eric Hellman. The Nemadji plant was moved to Kettle River in 1972-73. The new owner updated the plant and made significant changes to the pottery. The plant was sold again in 1980. Within a year, the new owner closed down the tile making end of business. Production of Nemadji pottery ended in the winter of 2001-2002." (Michelle Lee, http://home.mchsi.com/~nemadji/History.htm)
The identification of these tiles was made by Michelle Lee, who has studied the pottery and tiles of this company. Ms. Lee has written a book about the Nemadji Tile and Pottery Company, http://home.mchsi.com/~nemadji/Bookorders.htm.
Submitted by Michael Padwee (tileback101'at'collector.org) in April 2013.
A Nemadji vase.
Some damaged tiles courtesy of Cynthia Ott.
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