Tour NC With Me - Seagrove

Seagrove is best known as the Pottery Capital of North Carolina. With over 100 potters,(some 10th generation), located in the surrounding area, the classification is implicit

This pottery Mecca is 10 miles south of Asheboro in Randolph County, the geographical center of North Carolina. Within a 45 minute drive from the area, there is something for everyone. The North Carolina Zoo, is between Asheboro and Seagrove, Pottery shopping for Mom and to the south is Pinehurst, home of golf courses every Dad would love to play.

Outside of Seagrove, off Burney Road, is the Pisgah Covered Bridge, a 51 foot covered bridge that spans the Little River. After being destroyed in a flood in 2003, the bridge was rebuilt on it’s original foundations, using as much of the original materials as could be found.

The first settlers in the vicinity were of English and German descent. They brought with them the knowledge of producing functional glazed earthenware. Every day household items such as churns, bowls, plates mugs and whiskey jugs were made and sold, sometimes from the back of covered wagons traveling through North Carolina.

When the Old Plank Road was brought through from Fayetteville to Salem in the 1840’s, the benefit was increased trade and a recognition of pottery production in the Seagrove area. However, with the Industrial Revolution came cheaper household goods. For a while, the local potters continued to make a profit selling whiskey jugs, until prohabition.

The pottery business in the area was at it’s lowest at the early part of the 20th century. Jaques and Juliana Busbee, Raleigh artists, helped revitalize the area in 1917 when they discovered that the centuries-old pottery tradition still existed in Seagrove. They opened Jugtown Pottery outside of Seagrove and a shop to sell it from in Greenwich Village, New York. The area really revived when local potters started making art pieces and selling it to visitors coming from the golf resorts in Pinehurst as they continue to do today.

Driving the winding back country roads, the red clay that originally convinced the first potters to settle in this region in the 1700’s is visible everywhere. It is obvious that the people of the area hold the land in high regard. Many of the farms along the route proudly display their "River Friendly Farmers" sign on the road side.

Highway 705, known as Pottery Highway,

runs from Robbins into Seagrove and beyond. Pottery shops, generally located on the owners home site, are easily found at every turn of the road. Although many produce the same items, a number of potters have their own design or glaze. Ben Owen Pottery is known world-wide and has pieces in the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

Our last stop of the day became a pleasant visit with Richard Gillson of Holly Hill Pottery, my personal favorite because of their yellow glaze and blue slip trail finish.

Richard is also the President of the Museum of North Carolina Traditional Pottery. He proudly bragged that “after a quarter century of preserving the history and tradition of our local pottery, the Museum has purchased the old Seagrove grocery as a permanent home”.

In their press release they state:

The new building for the Museum for Traditional North Carolina Pottery will move us even further forward in our mission to preserve the rich pottery tradition of North Carolina’s five county Seagrove area. We want to show visitors the beautiful work from our many generations of potter families, from slip trailed red earthenware plates to face jugs.

The new Museum will also educate. The thousands of school children and other visitors who pass through our doors each year will have an opportunity to learn about and enjoy the simple, elegant, and functional beauty of 200 years of traditional pottery through displays and by watching visiting artisans demonstrate their skills. In a time when so many things are made by machines, we want people to know how potters today use their hands to form vessels of clay just as their families have done for generations.

November 18th & 19th will be their 25th Annual Pottery Festival at the Seagrove School. There will be 80 Potters exhibiting and 20 Traditional Crafts People, such as tin smiths, black smiths and spinners & weavers. At the end of the Festival, on Sunday at 4 PM, there will be an auction of limited edition pieces signed and dated by the maker.

They have five festivals annually, along with kiln openings throughout the year. The first event of the year is the Winter Fest held the 3rd weekend in February, then the Summer Fest, the 3rd weekend in June. Next is Christmas in July, again the 3rd weekend, then the Pottery Festival ending the year with the Potter’s Open House.

Events and Festivals For Next Weekend, August 25th, 26th and 27th:

"A Country Courtship"
8/26/2006 - 8/26/2006
“A COUNTRY COURTSHIP” Saturday, August 26, 2006, 7:30 p.m. Blackmon Amphitheatre in Mount Airy, NC - $10 at the gate or Season Ticket* An evening of live theatre as Peter Holland presents these two one act plays based loosely on the works of Anton Chekov. They present a humorous look at courtship and marriage
13th Annual Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic!
8/25/2006 - 8/27/2006
Please join us August 25-27, 2006 at the Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, for our magical weekend—and join the team, the mission, and one man's dream to beat cancer forever.
24th Annual Goombay! Festival
8/25/2006 - 8/27/2006
Goombay is an African-Caribbean festival, located in downtown Asheville, that lives up to its West African name, meaning rhythm or drum, with rhythmic sounds and colorful sights. Sponsored by the YMI Cultural Center.
4th Friday Presents: Jewelry Making, Mineral & Gem Collections
8/25/2006 - 8/25/2006
In Fayetteville - Join us this 4th Friday as members of the Cape Fear Mineral & Gem Society demonstrate many techniques for jewelry making. See collections of fossils and minerals. See slabs of rock turned into beautiful stones for mounting in rings. See jewelry artists at work. Refreshments provided by Systel.
8th Annual Jack Tales Festival And Benefit
8/26/2006 - 8/26/2006
In Lenoir - The storytellers are: Orville Hicks, Glenn Bolick, Dianne Hackworth, and others to be announced.
American Music Jubilee
8/26/2006 - 8/26/2006
In Selma - Branson-style variety show that entertains visitors from New York to Miami with musical delights from 50s rock-n-roll to classic and contemporary country and spectacular gospel. 7:40pm
An Appalachian Evening
8/26/2006 - 8/26/2006
In Robbinsville - Live stage performances featuring NC Mountain Folk Artists - bluegrass, folk, old-time, mountain music; dancing, storytelling, drama; arts and crafts; contact SVC for 2006 scheduled performers.
Art Exhibition
8/26/2006 - 10/7/2006
In High Point - NC Shakespeare Festival's 30th Anniversary Exhibitions, and The Coltrane Collection.
Banner Elk's Fine Arts & Mastercrafts Festival
8/26/2006 - 8/27/2006
Fine Arts in the Ultimate Mountain Setting. The Festival will be held on the old Cannon Hospital grounds located directly on Highway 184, the main road into Banner Elk. There will be plenty of easy access and parking.
Class of the 70's
8/26/2006 - 8/26/2006
In Maggie Valley - Class of the 70's Outdoor Concert featuring: Ambrosia, Stephen Bishop, John Ford Coley & Gary Wright. Begins at 8:00pm
Classic Gear Jammers
8/26/2006 - 8/26/2006
In Benson - Drag racing has been around for decades, and while urban sprawl may be taking up track property and closing them down, drag racing is still a popular sport.
Cruso Friendship Quilt Show
8/25/2006 - 8/26/2006
In Canton - Exhibiting antique and contemporary quilts, as well as wall hangings.
Festival of Native Peoples
8/25/2006 - 8/26/2006
In Cherokee - A gathering of various Native American tribal dancers, musicians, storytellers and artists from all over the United States in a three-day celebration of cultures.