Hadley Pottery, the Butchertown Factory Still Hand-Painting Mary Alice Hadley's Designs

A Louisville Pattern Book in Blue

Louisville has two potteries whose hand-painted blue dishes show up in local kitchens, wedding registries and estate sales. One is Louisville Stoneware, now Stoneware & Co., which traces its lineage to an 1815 riverfront pottery and works from a factory in Paristown Pointe. The other is Hadley Pottery, a younger company with a single founder, a smaller crew and a very different look: pigs, chickens, farmers, ships, whales and horses painted in loose blue lines on a white glaze, each piece signed "M.A. Hadley."

Hadley still makes its pottery at 1570 Story Avenue in Butchertown, in a factory building that predates the Civil War. It has a directory listing in our craft makers category. This story covers its history, owners, methods, and what to know before you visit or collect.

Mary Alice Hadley Before the Pottery

Mary Alice Hale was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1911. Her father ran the Vigo American Clay Co., which made ceramic building supplies, and according to the company's history her earliest ceramic pieces were bowls and figurines that he fired for her. She took art and piano lessons as a child, attended DePauw University and married George Hadley, a mechanical engineer, in 1930. They studied at Columbia University in New York before settling in his hometown of Louisville in 1936.

Before she was known for dishes, Hadley was a painter. Wikipedia's biography says she worked in oils and watercolors, showed paintings in New York, Boston and Los Angeles, and designed murals, including one for Louisville City Hall and a "Tree of Life" mural for Central Hospital in Anchorage, Alaska. She also co-founded Deco Paper Products, which made paper plates, napkins and gift wrap to her designs, according to the National Register of Historic Places nomination for her Butchertown house.

1939: Dishes for a Houseboat

George and Mary Alice lived in a carriage house in St. James Court and kept a houseboat on the Ohio River, the Alice III. Unable to find sturdy dishes she liked that could stand up to life on a boat, she designed her own, the company says. The Speed Art Museum describes those first pieces, made in 1939, as plates decorated with nautical flags.

She did not have her own kiln. Wikipedia says she hand-painted her designs on unglazed greenware from the Louisville Pottery Co., applied underglaze decoration, and had the pieces fired once in gas kilns at 2,300°F. Louisville Pottery was one of the names used by the Bauer pottery that later became Louisville Stoneware, as our Louisville Stoneware story explains, so the city's two best-known painted potteries share a starting point.

Friends wanted sets of their own. The Register nomination says friends in New York and Chicago showed her work around and orders for mugs, plates and platters began arriving at her home. Wikipedia reports that by summer 1940 orders were coming from New York City and New England, and that she worked out of St. James Court until a 1,000-piece backorder in 1944.

Founding dates vary with what you count: the company timeline starts at 1939, while its 2022 sale announcement refers to an "inception in 1940."

The Story Avenue Factory

The Hadleys bought an old factory on the banks of Beargrass Creek in Butchertown while World War II was still underway. They installed manufacturing equipment, hired a man named Perry Day, and fired the first kiln load in January 1945, according to the company history. KET's Inside Louisville puts the building purchase in 1944, and the Register nomination gives 1945 as the year the Hadleys bought it and opened Hadley Pottery there.

The building was already old. The nomination says it was constructed in 1855 and housed the Butchertown Candle Company, the Louisville Saddle and Girth Mills and the Semple Cordage Mill before the pottery moved in. Mary Alice painted the murals on the building's walls, and KET's episode shows her paintings on an old door, an elevator and a sliding door in the factory.

The pottery ran as a production studio from the start. The company says the Hadleys trained artists to reproduce Mary Alice's designs and her signature. By 1949, the Encyclopedia of Louisville reported, Hadley Pottery produced 200 pieces a day, and the Register nomination says she employed a head decorator and twelve other freehand decorators to keep up with demand.

In 1952 the couple bought 1638 Story Avenue, an Italianate townhouse a block from the pottery, where Mary Alice lived until her death and set her painted tiles into the patio, garden walls and bathrooms. It was listed on the National Register in 2008 for its association with her. The 1976 Butchertown Historic District nomination, quoted in the 2008 filing, credits George and Mary Alice Hadley with starting the revival of eastern Butchertown in the early 1960s.

The Designs, and a MoMA Award

Most Hadley pottery made today shows figures, animals and scenes painted in blue on a white ground. The early work leaned on farm and country subjects. The Encyclopedia of Louisville, quoted in the Register nomination, mentions pigs, chickens, horses, sheep and farmers, plus a children's line. The Speed says she often drew on Louisville landmarks and motifs. Wikipedia lists dinnerware lines including Blue Horse, Ship and Whale, and Pear and Grape.

Her most decorated design looks nothing like that. In 1952 the Museum of Modern Art chose her Brown Fleck pattern for its Good Design program, which the Speed describes as recognition of good "modern" design. The Register nomination, which calls it "Hot Brown Fleck," describes regularly placed gold dots on a dark brown background, a simpler and more modern look than her figurative work. Good Design winners were also shown to retail buyers at Chicago's Merchandise Mart, the nomination notes.

KET's episode says Hadley was once sold at Bloomingdale's and Gump's. The current catalog still draws on her work: StyleBlueprint's September 2026 profile of the company names Blue Horse as a bestseller and lists Anchor, Lobster, Bouquet, Brown Fleck and a newer line called Fish & Fowl, which the magazine says was developed from her unproduced sketches.

Owners After Mary Alice Hadley

Mary Alice Hadley died in 1965, aged 54. George ran the pottery until he retired in 1979 and sold it to local businessman Kenneth Moore, the company says. The company's account continues with a St. Louis company that ran the pottery for a few years before "passing the torch to the Day family." Wikipedia, citing a 2018 Courier-Journal article, says Jerry Day bought the business in 2018.

The Days were the pottery's longest thread. Perry Day helped Mary Alice start the business in the 1940s, his son Tom worked at the factory with her, and Perry's grandson Jerry started at Hadley in 1974 at 17, according to the sale announcement. The company describes four generations of the family working there.

George Hadley also placed much of his wife's work in public collections. He created the Mary Alice Hadley Foundation in 1967, gave 499 pieces to the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and, in 1989, 500 pieces to the Speed Art Museum, Wikipedia reports.

2022: A Closing, Then a Buyer

In early 2022, after more than 80 years in business, Hadley announced it would close. KET says the owners cited the cost of major repairs and equipment, and WDRB/WAVE reported customers lining up outside the factory to buy what they expected were the last pieces.

That November, Louisville investor and philanthropist Brook Smith bought the business from Jerry Day and his son, Josh. The company announcement said all current employees would be kept, new staff would be hired to expand production, and Josh Day would run production. The building would be renovated and equipment replaced, and LEO Weekly reported full operations were expected by mid-2023.

Smith's reasons were personal. He had been going to the factory since he was five years old with his mother, according to the announcement, and told WAVE he did not buy the company as an investment opportunity but because it "has to survive." In KET's 2026 interview, he said he bought the real estate as well as the business, a footprint he described as five or six acres along the creek, and that he would not have taken on the company without it.

How Hadley Pottery Is Made Today

The company says the process and product have remained "markedly unchanged" through the ownership changes.

Forming. Clay is shaped in plaster molds. KET shows pieces formed on a press with top and bottom dies and by jiggering, where softer clay is pressed into a plaster mold and a tool the staff call a "shoe" finishes the shape. A mold maker has been remaking the molds.

Painting. Painters decorate each piece freehand in the paint department, including the "M.A. Hadley" signature. StyleBlueprint reports that nine artisans paint every brushstroke on nearly 35,000 pieces a year. Brand manager Olivia Ross told the magazine that stamps or sponges might be faster but would chip away at the work's authenticity. The company says every current artist was trained by a protégé of Mrs. Hadley.

Glazing. Pieces are sprayed with a white glaze before firing. Hadley compounds and grinds its glazes at the pottery on Story Avenue, and they are lead- and cadmium-free, according to the company FAQ. A company brochure quoted in the 2008 Register nomination explains the method: the decoration goes directly onto green, unfired clay, which is then coated with glaze by dipping or spraying, hence "underglaze decoration."

Firing. The brochure describes a single firing at about 2,300°F in periodic gas-fired kilns, with roughly 24 hours of heating and 24 of cooling. That heat limits the palette. The brochure lists blue, green and rust as the usable colors, and the company FAQ today calls "Hadley blue" the signature color, with some accents of pink, green and yellow. The large kiln Hadley had used since 1981 broke down a couple of years before the KET interview, and new kilns replaced it. Smith said the equipment is newer but the process and type of equipment are the same.

The contrast with Stoneware & Co. is sharpest here. That company employs just over three dozen people and has built its retail business around factory tours and paint-your-own sessions, as our Louisville Stoneware story describes. Hadley is one designer's catalog, reproduced by about nine painters, with no regular public tours yet.

The Renovation and What Comes Next

StyleBlueprint reported that renovations to the aging factory began in summer 2026. Production is being consolidated onto adjacent floors, which the magazine says will improve efficiency and make room for classes and tours. In the KET interview, Smith said the renovation would use historic tax credits and described a possible mixed-use development on the surrounding land, with apartments and perhaps an anchor restaurant.

The product mix is widening too. StyleBlueprint lists tea towels by artist Julia Allisson Cost and candles from Maddox & Rose, plus personalized plates re-released in spring 2025 and oval address plates that returned in September 2026. Smith told KET that most sales now come through online channels and that a typical piece sells for about $30 to $40, while custom orders are costly to produce.

Hadley does not yet list classes; for hands-on options around town, see our guide to maker classes in Louisville.

Visiting the Shop

The showroom is in the factory at 1570 Story Ave., Louisville, KY. In November 2026 the company website listed in-store hours of Wednesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with the phone number (502) 584-2171. Hours have changed since 2022, and for a time after the sale the shop opened only on occasional sale days, so check the site or call before making a trip.

The company says seconds and sale items from its factory sales room cannot be returned or exchanged, while first-quality pottery can be returned with a receipt within 30 days. Hadley also runs a bridal registry and sells online.

Collecting and Identifying Hadley Pieces

The signature does not date a piece. Every Hadley piece, then and now, carries the hand-painted "M.A. Hadley" signature on the bottom or side, the company says, and that signature was being painted by trained decorators from the 1940s on. Wikipedia notes that nine painters continued to sign pieces "M.A. Hadley" after her death in 1965. KET's episode adds that the signature led many customers to call it "Ma Hadley" pottery and to picture an elderly woman. In fact she was in her late twenties when the business began.

What the signature does confirm is the maker; the company says all its designs are by or inspired by Mary Alice Hadley. The company also notes that stoneware always has an unglazed area on the bottom where it touched the kiln.

The best-documented early pieces are in museum collections. The Speed holds a large group, including the plate designed in 1952 cited above, and Rose-Hulman holds another. Wikipedia reports that after Jerry Day bought the company in 2018 he opened a stash of more than 6,000 pieces dating from Mary Alice Hadley's lifetime. We did not find a published guide to dating Hadley by mark, glaze or shape, so treat dealer claims that a piece is "Mary Alice's own" with caution unless it comes with provenance.

For use, the company says current pottery is dishwasher- and microwave-safe on low settings and oven-safe with care, but stoneware is sensitive to thermal shock: never go straight from freezer to oven, and never use it under a broiler. Its lead-free statement covers current production, so ask separately before eating off a vintage piece.

For more Louisville companies making things by hand, browse the craft makers directory. If you are building a ceramics or home goods business of your own, our guide to manufacturing a product in Louisville covers how to scale up from the studio.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hadley Pottery still in business?

Yes. Hadley Pottery announced in early 2022 that it would close, but Louisville investor Brook Smith bought the business and its land in November 2022 and kept it open. Pieces are still made and hand-painted at the factory at 1570 Story Avenue in Butchertown and sold there and online.

Who was Mary Alice Hadley?

Mary Alice Hadley was a painter and pottery designer born in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1911, whose father ran a clay building-products company. She married George Hadley in 1930, moved to Louisville in 1936, and in 1939 painted her first dishes for the couple's Ohio River houseboat. She won a Museum of Modern Art Good Design award in 1952 and died in 1965 at age 54.

When was Hadley Pottery founded?

Mary Alice Hadley made her first pottery in 1939, and orders followed by 1940, which is why sources give either year. The Hadleys bought the Story Avenue factory building in the mid-1940s, and the company says its first kiln firing there took place in January 1945.

Who owns Hadley Pottery now?

Brook Smith, a Louisville investor and philanthropist, has owned Hadley Pottery since November 2022. He bought it from longtime employee Jerry Day and his son Josh Day, whose family had worked at the pottery since Perry Day helped Mary Alice Hadley start it.

How can I tell if Hadley pottery is real?

Genuine Hadley stoneware has the hand-painted M.A. Hadley signature on the bottom or side of the piece. The signature has been painted by trained decorators since the 1940s and continued after Mary Alice Hadley died in 1965, so it confirms the maker but does not date the piece. Stoneware pieces also have an unglazed area on the bottom where they touched the kiln.

What are Hadley Pottery's hours?

In November 2026 the company website listed showroom hours of Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at 1570 Story Avenue in Louisville. Hours have changed since 2022 and the factory is being renovated, so check the website or call the shop before you visit.