The Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia showcases the handcraft skills of one of the South’s premier grassroots art forms, and explores the historical importance and changing role of folk pottery in southern life.

Northeast Georgia’s pottery tradition is nationally known. The Meaders family of White County was featured in Allen Eaton’s 1937 book, Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands, and was honored with a special event at the Library of Congress in 1978, when the Smithsonian Institution’s documentary film on the Meaders Pottery was released.

In the year 2000, northeast Georgia received a Library of Congress "Local Legacies" designation for its pottery heritage. The tradition also has been featured in magazines, books, videos, exhibits, and festivals such as the Southern Crossroads Marketplace at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Until now there’s been no institution devoted to Northeast Georgia folk pottery, not even in its home area. Dean and Kay Swanson, former owners of the Standard Telephone Company, have committed to erect this museum as their way of giving back to the people of the area. Collector and folk potter Michael Crocker helped them assemble the core collection on which this exhibition is based.

Folk Pottery Museum Brochure Download our new brochure: Folk Pottery Museum.pdf (8.4MB)

Currently on Loan from the National Museum of the American Indian NACOOCHEE MOUND NATIVE AMERICAN BOWL   This ceramic bowl was excavated in 1916 by the Smithsonian Institution and the Heye Foundation (Museum of the American Indian) from the Nacoochee Indian mound at the junction of Georgia Highways 17 and 75, just 2 miles from the Folk Pottery Museum, and housed in New York and Washington with other Smithsonian collections. The Nacoochee mound site dates from the 1400s, late in the mound-building culture of the Mississipians, making the bowl more than 600 years old. The bowl is now on special loan for display at the new Folk Pottery Museum. The upper portion of the design is incised, while the lower design pattern was pressed into wet clay with a carved wooden paddle. From the Permanent Collection Figural rooster, Edwin Meaders, White County R V (Russell Vann) DELAY (signed using his maker’s mark stamp) Jackson (now Barrow) County, ca. 1870 Pictured at the top of the page:   Top Left: Decorated syrup jug, Cleater Meaders, Sr., White County, circa 1920s   Left Below: Face jug, (rock tooth), Lanier Meaders, his first production style, 1969   Folk Potters trail featured on Brown's Guide Brown's Guide to Georgia - Folk Potters of Northeast Georgia The folk potters included below are shown on the Folk Potters Trail of Northeast Georgia Map. In addition, Chris Brooks, the director of the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia, has provided the names of retail stores in the northeast Georgia region that sell locally produced pottery, and those are included at the end of the tour, along with addresses and contact information; they are also on the tour map. The Folk Pottery Museum also sells pottery in the Museum Shop. Folk Pottery Museum produces short video . . .   YouTube - Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia Copyright 2008 A short video presentation on the history of folk pottery in Northeast Georgia and an introduction to the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia.

Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia
Sautee Nacoochee Center
P.O. Box 460
Sautee Nacoochee, GA 30571
283 Hwy 255 N
Four miles southeast of Alpine Helen
706-878-3300 ext 307
Folk Pottery Museum Director, Chris Brooks
cbrooks@snca.org

NOTE: Please address all mail to our P.O. Box. 460
Our street address is provided for the purpose of driving directions only.

HOURS
Monday – Saturday, 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday, 1 – 5 pm
Check opening hours on major public holidays by calling 706-878-3300

ADMISSION
$5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $2 for children.

Nestled in the Appalachian foothills of Northeast Georgia, the Sautee Nacoochee Community Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing creativity and protecting the natural and historical resources of the Sautee and Nacoochee Valleys and surrounding area. The SNCA maintains Sautee Nacoochee Center, a thriving cultural and community center housed in a restored rural schoolhouse, offering a Folk Pottery Museum, Theatre, Gallery, Art Studio, History Museum, Heritage Site, Nature Preserve, Environmental Studies Room, and Conference Facilities. The Association has established Sautee Nacoochee as an official Historic District and one of "The 100 Best Small Arts Towns in America."