Will McCanless turns a pot at Dover Pottery, which is owned by his family, near Seagrove, N.C. Phil Morgan turns a pot at his gallery near Seagrove, N.C., while Bubba watches. Morgan's speciality is crystalline pottery. Phil Morgan chisels the bottom of a crystalline pot at his gallery near Seagrove, N.C. Because crystalline glazes are very runny, a small dish is mounted on the bottom to catch excess glaze. Potter signs hang on a tree on State Route 705, commonly called Pottery Highway, near Seagrove, N.C. Phil Morgan turns a pot in his gallery located near Seagrove, N.C. Morgan owns one of the more than 90 pottery shops in the Seagrove area. He is one of the town's most famous craftsmen. The Brooke Haven Pottery Gallery is one of more than 90 potters in the Seagrove, N.C., area. Visitors can browse for pottery ranging from a few dollars to more than $1,000. Cars travel State Route 705, also known as Pottery Highway, near Seagrove, N.C. Crystallline pottery created by Phil Morgan of Phil Morgan Pottery is shown. The crystalline glaze, which in the final product produces a three-dimensional appearance of exploding pansy shapes, is the most difficult to work with. Potter Phil Morgan's speciality is crystalline pottery, as shown here. A selection of pottery at Dover Pottery, located about eight miles from downtown Seagrove, N.C., is shown. Photos by Jeff Scheid.

A tradition of clay that dates back 250 years now draws thousands of tourists to a small town in central North Carolina. While potters have experienced feast and famine in those many years, today, Seagrove, N.C., is a shopper's mecca for pottery.

"If you come to Seagrove and don't find the piece that you want, then you don't like pottery," said Phil Morgan of Phil Morgan Pottery.

Morgan owns one of the more than 90 pottery shops in the Seagrove area and is one of the town's most famous craftsmen. His pieces are owned by several past presidents and are exhibited worldwide.

So what makes Seagrove a popular tourist destination, when pottery is available in every major department store?

"Seagrove has kept itself pure," explained Morgan. "Seagrove is a community of potters -- not ceramicists, but potters. We make a piece by our own hands on our wheels."

Morgan's specialty is crystalline pottery, and he was recently selected as one of 20 international crystalline artists to participate in an exhibit in Kansas City, Mo., in September.

The crystalline glaze, which in the final product produces a three-dimensional appearance of exploding pansy shapes, is the most difficult to work with. The glaze contains zinc oxide. During the firing process, the glaze melts, and, when the temperature is lowered, the zinc oxide crystallizes into circular or fan shapes.

Morgan got into pottery 32 years ago; at the time, there were only six potters in the area. In 1988, there were 22 potters. That number doubled to 44 in 1992. Today, that number fluctuates between 90 and 100.

Will McCanless will soon be adding his name to that list. In mid-July, he was in the process of securing a business loan to open up a shop on State Route 705, commonly called Pottery Highway for its proliferation of pottery shops.

McCanless isn't new to the business. In 1983, his parents opened Dover Pottery on scenic farmland eight miles southeast of the Seagrove town center. The rustic showroom displays the family's crystalline pottery, as well as intricate hand-painted wares that reflect the Italian majolica style.

McCanless had other good news the weekend my husband and I visited. He had just gotten married the previous Monday -- at the local courthouse, much to his mother's dismay. He wasn't the first of her children to be married by a justice of the peace and deprive her of witnessing the ceremony.

The news of his marriage hadn't gotten out yet, so suddenly we were the ones "in the know" as we dropped in on the other potters.

"Did you hear that Will got married?" we'd ask. And immediately the gossiping would begin.

Not that we needed that information to get the potters talking. They're a friendly bunch and love answering questions about their work or background. As we quickly discovered, it's easy to spend hours shooting the breeze with some of these potters.

"I'm not here to sell you a piece; I'm here to educate you," said Morgan, who is only too happy to explain the process of making crystalline pottery to customers in his shop.

When he started in the business in 1983, Morgan would travel to exhibits around the East Coast to get the word out about Seagrove. Now that duty falls to Ben Owen III, whose photo appears on the official state map of North Carolina.

Owen owns and operates Ben Owen Pottery, the business founded by his grandfather and carried on by his father. He has been featured in several publications and helped bring attention to the Seagrove area by appearing on "Good Morning America."

"Fifty percent of my time is spent being creative and 50 percent is spent being a marketeer," Owen said.

Owen is from one of about a half dozen local families that have a long lineage of potters. The Owen clan came to the area from England as early as 1756 in search of clay to produce their wares for early settlers.

German immigrant potters also arrived in the late 18th century and, like the English, supplemented their incomes by making utilitarian earthenware to barter for necessities. In the 19th century, the combination of the Industrial Revolution and modern food preparation was devastating to potters across the country, and most closed their doors forever.

A few Seagrove potters began focusing more on the aesthetic potential in their work and that coincided with the arrival of Jacque and Juliana Busbee, well-connnected art collectors from Raleigh, N.C. After discovering an earthenware pie plate from Seagrove at a county fair, they became infatuated with the area's pottery.

With the help of the local potters, the couple succeeded in reviving the craft through marketing the pottery in New York City. They also opened Jugtown Pottery in Westmoore, not far from Seagrove, and hired Ben Owen Sr. (the grandfather of Ben Owen III) to re-create traditional salt-glazed stoneware and orange earthenware.

The good times didn't last, however. The pottery industry took another hit during World War II, as many of the materials for glazes became unavailable. Still, demand was such that Ben Owen Sr. was able to open his own shop in 1959.

He was retired when his 8-year-old grandson began learning the art of pottery from him. Ben Owen III furthered his education in the arts by earning a degree in ceramics at East Carolina University. He also traveled to Japan to take part in a ceramics workshop, researching the Asian influence that was very strong in his grandfather's work.

While many of the shapes and colors created by Ben Sr. are still being produced today, Ben Owen III says his studies "have enhanced the opportunity to be creative within a tradition."

Similarly, more educated and trained potters are moving to Seagrove and introducing their own style of pottery-making to an area steeped with tradition.

"Great potters from all over the country are moving here because they can make a living here," said McCanless.

And that's a good thing for Seagrove, according to Owen.

"The more diversity in the area, the more it's going to make (Seagrove) special," he said.

Georgia and Byron Knight of Blue Moon Gallery got into pottery five years ago and moved to Seagrove in 2003.

"Some people have been doing the same thing for 30 years, but then you have new people come in with more contemporary works," said Georgia Knight.

Their gallery exhibits pottery from local, regional and national artists, while the couple displays their own works under the Ole Fish House moniker. They continue learning their craft by participating in workshops during the low-touristy months of January and February.

Wyndham Dennison has been working with clay for 20 years and moved to Seagrove 10 years ago. Newly divorced at the time, he says he "started with nothing."

"I have to make a living, and this is the way I've come up with to reflect what I like," said Dennison, who includes painting and photography among his artistic endeavors.

He formulates all of his own glazes and achieves abstract effects through his technique of glaze application and firing.

"Since I enjoy Impressionism, the glazes reflect that," he said.

In 1996, Dennison founded Wyndham & Brooke Haven Pottery Gallery with his present wife, Melanie, a potter who was born and raised just eight miles from Seagrove.

Benjamin Burns, a self-described corporate drop-out, fulfilled a dream when he moved to Seagrove nearly eight years ago and opened up the Great White Oak Gallery.

He was a businessman in Miami when he began taking and then teaching pottery classes. After Hurricane Andrew, Burns left Florida with the goal of some day having his own studio and moved to Maggie Valley N.C., where he earned a degree in production crafts at Haywood Community College.

Today, his striking crimson red designs highlight a line of pottery that is elegant yet functional. Burns' custom-made glazes set his pottery apart from the more traditional warm-colored stoneware.

And, according to McCanless, it's color, rather than form, that attracts today's more sophisticated general public.

"I think people will look at a good functional piece, but a beautiful piece is something they have an affinity to," he added.

The vast range of colors, shapes and prices means visitors should have no trouble finding something that appeals to them -- whether it's a $3 coffee mug or a large crystalline vase that costs well over $1,000. There's also functional dinnerware, cookware, miniatures, folksy face jugs, lamps, candlesticks, whimsical figurines and, of course, contemporary and traditional pots to fit any d cor.

"Seagrove as a pottery destination is a treasure hunt down windy roads to the pottery shops," said Morgan.

But what is known as the "Pottery Capital of North Carolina" actually covers a 15-square-mile area of rolling countryside that includes several counties and unincorporated towns.

"The potters are not the town of Seagrove. That's where the post office is," explained Morgan. "The potters are out in the woods."

However, downtown Seagrove is the home of the North Carolina Pottery Center, which details the history of pottery-making in the state.

And with its display of pieces from each of the current pottery shops in the area, the center is a great place to start mapping out your itinerary -- just remember to pick up your free map.