Mt. Clemens Pottery production started January, 1915, but the onset of World War I choked off the pottery's supply of English clay and threatened to shut down production. When the war ended, the pottery became busy again. The S.S. Kresge Company bought the pottery in 1920. In 1941, the pottery became embroiled in a labor dispute that lasted for 6 years and eventually landed in the United States Supreme Court. In 1965, Kresge sold the pottery, and then it operated as the Jamestown China Company. Ownership passed to Action Industries in 1983. Mount Clemens Pottery ceased production permanently in December, 1987. After a proposed employee buy-out failed, the plant was demolished in December, 1993.