PLEASANT VALLEY POTTERY

The pottery is named after the Pleasant Valley area near Brighton, MI where the Warner farmstead is located.  The region of Pleasant Valley is not listed on any maps, but may have been referred to the area around Mann Creek that was renamed from Pleasant Valley Creek in the mid 19^th century.

The Warner farm is the pioneer homestead of the owner, started by his great, great, great grandfather in 1841.  The Warner’s were pioneers from upstate NY arriving in Michigan before statehood in 1836.  The farm was occupied by five generations of the namesake family for over 170 years.  The Greek Revival house, built in 1855, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and still stands today largely in original condition.  In 2007, an inadvertent discovery was made by his 3 ½ year old daughter after his uncle’s Siberian Husky unearthed a large hole in pursuit of a ground squirrel.  The squirrel escaped but the small 1840s sherd of blue transferware found by his daughter captured the attention of the artist and avocational archaeologist.  The site stands as one of the few, if not only, historic sites in Michigan excavated extensively by a direct descendant.  Ceramics dating back to the 1830s recovered at the Warner site and other pioneer farmsteads provide the inspiration for modern made samples.  

The discovery of an 1840s sherd of blue transferware by his 3 1/2 year old daughter led to the excavation of over 4400 sq ft yielding thousands of 19th century artifacts.

Tim Bennett excavating Feature 15 at the Warner site.  This feature produced hundreds of mid 19th century artifacts including a variety of ceramics, buttons, coins, animal bone, glass, and nails.