Catawba Valley Pottery

[citation needed] Innovations included decorative techniques such as "swirl ware"; pottery made by combining two or more different colors of clay.

Potters enjoyed an abundance of wood ash from burning their kilns while salt deposits were not very plentiful in the Carolinas.

Ware was loaded in the low passageway or "ware-bed" and the fire was built in a sunken firebox located just inside the door.

[citation needed] An early recorded pottery in the Catawba Valley was operated by Daniel Seagle (ca.1805-1867) of Lincoln County.

When Craig returned from service in the Navy following World War II, he purchased the Reinhardt farm and pottery complex in Vale, North Carolina.

In 1981 Charles Lisk and his family moved to Vale and developed a friendship with his neighbor Burlon Craig who shared with him the techniques of the Catawba Valley pottery tradition.