Roark-Griffith Pottery Site

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Roark-Griffith Pottery Site, out in Denton County. Pull over if you need to; this one's worth a moment. Now, stoneware doesn't sound like the stuff of legend.

Bowls. Crocks. Churns.

But out here on the Texas frontier, a good potter was worth his weight in clay, and the story of this particular patch of ground along Big Elm Creek is something worth knowin'. It starts with a man named James M. Roark.

Born in 1837, trained in Missouri, a master of the craft. He didn't just show up and hang a shingle, though. He apprenticed first; worked under John Cranston at a nearby kiln, learning the feel of the wheel, the temperament of the fire, the particular stubbornness of Texas earth.

And then, in 1871, he was ready. He partnered with a man named J.A. Smith, and together they started a pottery works right near Big Elm Creek.

Now picture what that looked like. Clay pits dug into the ground. Workshops thick with dust.

And at the center of it all: a beehive-style brick kiln, twelve feet across. Twelve feet. That's not a hobby kiln.

That's a serious, smoke-stackin', ground-shakin' operation. From that kiln came pitchers and bowls, preserve jars, crocks, pots, and churns; utilitarian pieces, the kind of things that kept a household running, that kept the butter cold and the pickles sealed through a long Texas summer. Roark worked that site for over a decade.

Then, in 1884, he sold the business. The new owners were M.B. Griffith (born in 1834) and his son, J.F.

Griffith, born in 1857. Two generations stepping into a going concern, that beehive kiln still at the heart of it, still breathing fire. But all fires cool eventually.

Around 1900, the business closed. The clay pits went quiet. The kiln went cold.

You might think that's where the story ends. But here's the thing about places that have been worked hard and left behind: the ground remembers. In 1982, this site was named one of five Denton County kilns listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Five kilns, one county; turns out the pottery tradition around here ran deeper than most folks ever knew. All those crocks and churns and preserve jars scattered across North Texas homes? Somebody threw them on a wheel.

Somebody fired them in a twelve-foot beehive kiln out near Big Elm Creek. And for a good long stretch of the 19th century, that somebody answered to the name Roark; and then Griffith. The land holds onto that, even now.

What the marker says

Stoneware production was a vital activity of the 19th century. A typical layout included clay pits, firing kilns and workshops. James M. Roark (1837-1901) a master potter from Missouri, apprenticed at John Cranston's nearby kiln before partnering with J.A. Smith in 1871 to start a pottery works near Big Elm Creek. In 1884, Roark sold the business to M.B. Griffith (1834-1924) and his son, J.F. Griffith (1857-1937). Central to the works was a beehive-style brick kiln measuring 12 feet across. The pottery specialized in utilitarian pieces such as pitchers, bowls, preserve jars, crocks, pots and churns. The business closed around 1900. In 1982, the site was one of five Denton County kilns listed in the National Register of Historic Places. (2021)