Goodhue County Historical Society

Celebrates its 140th Anniversary with a Commemorative Churn

Since 2007, Red Wing Pottery annually has done a special piece to commemorate a local event City sesquicentennial, state sesquicentennial Now— Goodhue County Historical Society (GCHS)’ 140th anniversary

1, 2 gallon and 140, 2-qt butter churns have been made to celebrate the anniversary. The commemoratives will be bottom-numbered 1 to 140. The large churn and the commemorative marked #1 will be auctioned off at the GCHS’ anniversary event, The Age of Style – 1920s, ‘30s, and ‘40s, to be held Saturday, September 26 from 5:00 until 11:00 pm at the Treasure Island Event Center (reservations accepted through September 15). Commemorative #140 will become part of the GCHS’ permanent collections.

Churns #2 – #139 will be available for sale Saturday, September 19 beginning at 8:00 am at Red Wing Pottery Sales, 1920 Old W Main St, Red Wing. The cost is $75.00, with 50% of every sale donated to the GCHS.

The commemoratives will be for sale on a first-come, first-served basis. Each customer may purchase one churn. No pre-ordering or online orders will be taken. Pieces were made by Mark Connolly, Scott Keith, and Alex Wilson.The 2 gallon churn, is specially signed “Mark the Potter.”

The churns are salt-glazed pottery pieces. This was the first kind made by skilled German craftsmen in the late 1800s. This small beginning gave rise to the largest pottery company in the United States. Following the long tradition of pottery making, today’s expert craftsmen produced these pieces by hand.

The churn was chosen because of its historical significance. Each piece has been hand-decorated with a tradition decoration used by earlier Red Wing potters. Each piece is back-stamped with a special GCHS 140th anniversary stamp

Because this is the third in a series of bottom-numbered pieces, it is highly collectible. The earlier pieces sold out within an hour and the value of the pieces immediately swelled. Last year’s piece could be found on eBay for 500% of its retail value.

The Red Wing Pottery is excited about using its skill in offering increasingly valuable commemorative pieces to help support the mission of the GCHS. Because organized pottery’s history goes back almost to the founding of the county, and indeed, pottery was made by the Native Americans living here long before the area was settled by white people, pottery has touched many aspects of county history. Partnering with the GCHS is an obvious way to support and promote the history of the county and the traditions that Red Wing Pottery carries on.