Roark-Griffith Pottery Site
Cross Roads, Denton County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Stoneware pottery was vital everyday industry in 19th-century Texas, and this site was one of five kilns that made Denton County a pottery center. Missouri-trained master potter James M. Roark apprenticed nearby before partnering to start a pottery works near Big Elm Creek in 1871, later selling it to the Griffith family. At its heart was a 12-foot beehive brick kiln that fired utilitarian ware—pitchers, crocks, churns, and preserve jars—until the business closed around 1900.
Why it matters
It marks a lost frontier industry that supplied the jars and crocks ordinary households depended on, later recognized on the National Register as part of a notable cluster of Texas kilns.
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Related people
- · James M. Roark
- · M.B. Griffith
Themes & tags
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