Henderson County Pottery Industry

McKendree Miller came from Louisiana, Missouri, in 1884 and, the Handbook of Texas says, walked the railroad tracks from Dallas to Athens, where he started the Athens Pottery in February 1885. The clay was local, and the company shipped by rail until it bought trucks in 1930. By 1925 it sold three million dollars of products a year, with seven potteries around Texas and up to 200 workers at one time. The firm failed in the Depression, and a Miller grandson bought the Athens plant and renamed it Athens Tile and Pottery in 1934.

What the plaque says

Henderson County Pottery Industry Prehistoric Caddoan Indians utilized the abundant deposits of rich clays in this region to make their fine pottery vessels. The modern pottery industry in Henderson County began in 1857, when Levi S. Cogburn (1812-1866), one of a family of potters from Georgia, started making cups, saucers, and plates in Athens. Cogburn's plant operated until shortly after his death in 1866. Industry was reactivated in 1885 by M. K. Miller, who with his sons, started the Athens Pottery Company, first of many tile, brick, and pottery plants in the area. (1973)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center — 5.5 mi
  A Texas Parks and Wildlife hatchery and visitor center in Athens where visitors can borrow tackle and fish a stocked pond, watch native species in gallery tanks and ride a tram around the hatchery.
• Purtis Creek State Park — 14 mi
  A 1,582-acre park straddling the Henderson and Van Zandt county line, built around a 355-acre lake with no-wake fishing, borrowed tackle, a 4.1-mile hike-and-bike trail and a nature path.

More markers nearby

• J.B. Henry "The Pea Man" — steps away
• Henderson County — steps away
• Athens — steps away
• Henderson County C. S. A. — 0.3 mi