Reems Creek Pottery

One of William Barnhill’s more important sets of photographs is his documentation of George Donkel making pottery at Reems Creek Pottery.  Reems Creek Pottery is the best-known and longest running of five potteries that once existed in the Weaverville area.  George and David Donkel began the Pottery in the late 1890s, but after David turned to farming around 1902, George continued to make pottery there until 1940.  William Barnhill visited George Donkel in the Reems Creek community sometime between 1914 and 1917 and photographed him at various stages in the process of creating his work.  Barnhill published a photographic essay about George Donkel and Reems Creek Pottery in Studio Potter in January 1979.