White and Company's Goose Lake Stoneware Manufactury
Also known as: Jugtown; Pottery Works; 11gr69
Why it's listed
Remains of a pottery factory lie in a field near Morris, Illinois, within a state-owned marsh and prairie preserve. William White, a potter from New York, and Chicago financier Charles Walker began building the Goose Lake Stoneware Manufactury in 1855 to use the rich clay beds near Goose Lake. The firm stopped production in 1866, but it had introduced a factory-style system quite different from the small workshops common in Illinois. Surface collection in 1991 recovered over 14,000 artifacts from a site covering more than 36,000 square meters, mostly kiln furniture, waster sherds, brick and crockery. The distribution of debris points to a pottery workshop area, possible kilns and a dump or roadway. Records suggest White paid skilled workers well above the regional average, and that mechanized molding of bowls and lids had begun. The site was listed because it can still yield information on early industrial pottery making.
Significance in brief: The site is listed under Criterion D for its ability to yield information about early industrialized pottery production in Illinois. White and Company set up a production system that contrasted sharply with traditional ceramic workshops in the state. The site's dense scatter of kiln furniture, waster sherds and brick may reveal workshop layout, kilns, division of labor and mechanized methods.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 98000982, listed August 6, 1998. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 5010 N. Jugtown Rd., Morris |
|---|---|
| County | Grundy County |
| Listed | August 6, 1998 |
| Reference number | 98000982 |
| Resource type | Site |
| Architect / builder | William White and Charles Walker (White and Company) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Historic - Non-Aboriginal |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Currently part of a state park landscape; the field was farmed in 1991 and then planted in prairie grass. |
| Acreage | 8.9 |
| Coordinates | 41.34718, -88.32205 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
Sites (archaeological sites, battlefields, landscapes) are often listed with a restricted address to protect them from looting or disturbance. Listing is honorary for private owners; federal undertakings on or near the site go through Section 106 review, and state laws may protect burials and artefacts regardless of listing.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 98000982.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14688243
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.