The History of Emerson Creek Pottery
Emerson Creek Pottery is owned and operated by Jim Leavitt and Priscilla Palmer. And Yes, there really is an Emerson Creek!
Located in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, Emerson Creek runs through what once was the
Emerson farm, owned by the uncle of the famous writer Ralph Waldo Emerson. The
creek once powered a grist mill, and the old foundations are still visible at the
creek side below the old house. The creek eventually winds into the Blackstone
River.
In 1690 the Emersons built a small farm house on the Great Road in what was then
the southwest section of Mendon, but the present day South Uxbridge. This
construction was one of the first in the area after the devastating King
Phillip's War. The first settled minister in the area was Rev. Joseph Emerson, from whom the
Uxbridge Emersons and also the reknowned essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson,
descended. The last Emerson to own the house was Millen Emerson in 1901.
The house was built in two parts: the first and smaller section was built in
1690, and the second and larger part facing the road was built in 1730. Some of
the prominent features of the house as originally built are the foot wide plank
floor boards, hand squared rafters, wooden rafter pegs, corner frame posts
visible from the inside, six fireplaces (one in the original section and five
in the second part), and six and half foot low ceilings.
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