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 Dover Pottery officially opened it's
doors in the fall of 1983, but it's inspiration had been building in Al and
Milly for all their lives. Back in 1972 Al and Milly McCanless, fresh
out of college, dreamed of raising a family in the country, and getting back to a more simple way of life. They
bought a 167 acre farm and immediately started growing a garden and accumulating livestock. There were cows, pigs,
chickens, rabbits, quines, peacocks, sheep, and of course many dogs and cats. Over time however, they realized
that this was not a simple life, for in addition to farming, Al held down a full time pharmacy position and Milly
was raising three young boys. This was not the dream come true as they expected. There simply wasn't enough time
for it all so the McCanlesses sold off their livestock and settled things down a bit. Around the same time the
three McCanless sons were old enough for school, Milly started filling her new found free time with some of her
hobbies, one of them being Doll house construction. Upon completing the doll house and furnishing it, Milly wanted
to set her mini dining room table with miniature china. Catalog mini china was far too expensive so Milly got the
idea to make her own by pinching out pieces of clay. She quickly found out that there was a lot more to it than
she originally thought, so in 1978 she enrolled at Montgomery Community College, where their Associate Arts program
in ceramics is top notch. The school's instructor, Mike Feree, has been a professional potter and teacher now for
over thirty years. The program began due to it's close proximity to the historic Seagrove pottery area, and was
originally the brainchild of Zedith Teague. Milly flourished in this class and moved quickly beyond miniatures
to full sized forms and then set her sights on decorating them. Milly showed tremendous aptitude with a brush early
on, and being so excited about her paintings on pots, she frantically thumbed through pottery books for new design
ideas. Her husband Al, upon seeing Milly's progress, got equally excited and started gleaning from Milly all the
knowledge she had accumulated to date. Upon completion of the program, Milly immediately went to work at Old House
Pottery and learned all the practical business goings on of a full time pottery shop before she and her husband
Al decided to open their own pottery. In the fall of 1983 Dover Pottery opened it's doors to the public for the
first time, and became the fourteenth shop to open in an area famous for it's rich pottery tradition. Check out
discoverseagrove.com for a more detailed look at Seagrove's
rich pottery tradition. Within one week, Dover Pottery had sold nearly every piece of ware on their shelves. Desperately
needing more pots, Al and Milly hired on David Garner, a classmate of Milly's at MCC and fellow employee at Old
House Pottery. David currently owns Turn and Burn Pottery
along with his wife Deborah. David could not stay with Al and Milly long though, as he was also in the process
of opening his own shop too. Jim Bott of River Bend Pottery, another MCC acquaintance of Milly's, was hired on
next and helped keep the stock up before moving to his own studio. Al and Milly quickly realized that in addition
to providing much needed ware, the potters hired on along the way provided a great environment for bouncing creative
ideas off each other. John Mellage partnered with Dover Pottery along with his shop Cady
Clay Works for a short time in the late 1980's and remains to this day one of our dearest friends. Later,
in the early 1990's, Fred Johnston worked at Dover Pottery before heading off to the famed ceramic institution
Alfred University and later received his MFA at Penn State University. Fred is now co-owner of Johnston
and Gentithes Art Pottery with his wife Carol. Hoque Vernon upon moving to Seagrove from Wisconsin provided
Dover Pottery with many of his fine forms , and stitch after stitch of his remarkable humor. Hogue currently owns
Vernon Pottery. All throughout this time, long time baby sitter to the McCanless boys, Sharon Williams, was aboard
Dover Pottery for nearly 15 years providing the gallery with her slab work (forms molded from thin slabs of clay)
as well. Sharon also had a wonderful folksy charm to her painting style. Sharon was certainly the most visible
past employee at Dover Pottery, having greeted and wrapped pots for customers for years. Sharon now has her own
shop, Williams Pottery. Patricia Cestaro Fenberg, a very talented painter and sculptor from Genoa, Italy, provided
some breathtaking work for a short time at Dover Pottery before she and her husband established Fenberg Pottery.
Bruce Gholson and Samantha Heneke spent nearly five years at Dover Pottery. Both are graduates of prestigious Alfred
University (Bruce receiving his MFA there). These years in the mid to late 1990's are probably in the opinion of
most members of the McCanless family "The Golden Years of Dover Pottery". The economy was booming and
great ideas and creative work were being produced, ideas that are still reverberating today. A lot of this was
do to Bruce's vast knowledge and love of ceramics. Bruce Gholson and Samantha Heneke are present owners of Bulldog Pottery. The last twenty plus years of Dover Pottery reads
like a who's who of Seagrove. It has been a time that provided much knowledge, and more importantly, meaningful
relationships, that truly define Dover Pottery. Today Dover Pottery is stronger than ever, being one of the oldest
and most respected pottery studios in the area. The second generation, Will
and Eck McCanless, hope to maintain the same standard set before them, and even
go further as they are only entering their thirties. But, with so much experience and solid exposure behind them,
they feel Dover Pottery's best years are yet to come.
© Dover Pottery 2004 - permissions required for use
321 Dover Pottery Dr. - Seagrove, NC - 27341
910.464.3586 - contact@doverpots.com
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