A Brief History of North Georgia Pottery
Potters settled where good clay could be found. In Georgia this was along the fall line and in the Piedmont region. These potters were in business to provide fellow farmers with food containers and table ware. Before refrigeration and the availability of glass and metal containers, pottery was the essential food storage container.
Around 1815, Dr. Abner Landrum developed an alkaline based glaze. These glazes depended on wood ashes or lime to help melt the other ingredients; clay and a silica source such as sand or crushed glass. The glaze turns either green or brown when its iron content reacts to the kiln atmosphere.
The oldest area of pottery production in North Georgia was at Mossy Creek, south of Cleveland, GA. This was also Georgia's largest pottery center and home of the famous Meaders Pottery, launched in 1893. By 1847, Charles Ferguson had opened Jug Factory near present-day Statham in Barrow County. Fed by potters from Jug Factory and Mossy Creek, a final center blossomed during the 1880s at Gillsville in Hall County.
By the early 1900's, Georgia potters faced a number of challenges that endangered the survival of the craft. The 1907 state prohibition shut down distillers and cut the demand for whiskey jugs. Mass production of glass and metal were beginning to eliminate the need for stoneware vessels. The Great Depression was the final blow for many potters. Only a few remained in business by converting to unglazed garden ware production and selling to tourist.
In 1920 Cheever Meaders inherited the family pottery at Mossy Creek; a year later his brother Cleater set up a shop in nearby Cleveland. As local demand for food-related wares declined, tourists and crafts enthusiasts became their main customers. In the late 1950s Cheever's wife, Arie, taught herself to throw and developed colorful pottery that appealed to the tourist market. Their son, Lanier Meaders (1917-98) took over the shop in 1967 and revitalized the tradition of face jugs. His success encouraged others in the region to carry on the craft today.
