A potter at Martinez Pottery can churn out more than 300 of these quart-size stoneware containers in a day Credit: Gerald McLeod

Martinez Pottery continues a tradition of manufacturing pottery in East Texas that stretches back to the Caddo people. The family-owned business 5 miles north of Marshall specializes in farmhouse chic crockery with a simple blue band or hand-painted designs. 

The company is operated by Vickie and Marcos Martinez, who have more than two decades of experience in the pottery industry. Marcos formerly worked for Yesteryears Pottery, an offshoot of Marshall Pottery.

Founded in 1895, Marshall Pottery was once the largest commercial pottery manufacturer in Texas and Marshall’s biggest tourist attraction. During Prohibition, moonshiners saved the company from bankruptcy by purchasing their little brown jugs.

In the days before internet sales, customers from around the country flocked to Marshall Pottery’s retail warehouse where they could watch potters create the signature gray stoneware with a double blue stripe. At one point, the company added an automated red clay flowerpot division that was the only factory of its kind in the U.S.

At the end of the day the kiln is loaded to cook the stoneware pottery at 2,200 degrees overnight Credit: Gerald McLeod

In 1997, Marshall Pottery was purchased by Deroma, an Italian company that is the world’s largest producer of terracotta planters. The Italians closed the Marshall company’s divisions, keeping only the flowerpot factory. 

The Marshall Pottery stoneware manufacturing and retail outlet closed in 2015.

Vickie and Marcos purchased a shuttered pottery factory to fill a market left open when Marshall Pottery closed. Their main business is selling stoneware wholesale and online retail sales. Customers who make the journey to their factory outlet store will find an assortment of crockery from dog food bowls to dinner plates at astonishingly low prices. 

Martinez Pottery is north of Marshall off U.S. Highway 59 at 183 N. Marshall Industrial Ave. The outlet store is open from 9am to 4pm and is closed on Saturday and Sunday. There is no sign for the shop on the highway, but most map apps will guide you to their door. 

The handmade lead-free pottery comes with the familiar blue stripe or with hand-painted designs Credit: Gerald McLeod

1,782nd in a series. Everywhere is a day trip from somewhere. Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/day-trips.

This article appears in November 28 • 2025.

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Gerald E. McLeod joined the Chronicle staff in November 1980 as a graphic designer. In April 1991 he began writing the “Day Trips” column. Besides the weekly travel column, he contributed “101 Swimming Holes,” “Guide to Central Texas Barbecue,” and “Guide to the Texas Hill Country.” His first 200 columns have been published in Day Trips Vol. I and Day Trips Vol. II.