‘Why Not’ is a unique N.C. ‘pottery community’

Why Not, an unincorporated community in southern Randolph County, sits almost smack dab in the geographic middle of North Carolina.

Not all roads lead to Why Not, but North Carolina’s “Pottery Road Scenic Byway” does…connecting Pinehurst to Seagrove.

 

About 100 ceramic shops and pottery galleries are located hither and yon along the 40-mile route. This is a popular destination for people who are attracted to the authenticity of cultural and heritage tourism. 

Some sources say this region in North Carolina is “America’s largest community of ceramic artisans.”

 

Why Not nuzzles up to the town limits of Seagrove, which is the epicenter of turning potters’ wheels and the home of the North Carolina Pottery Center. Opened in 1998, the facility is basically a state “welcome center” devoted solely to pottery. 

The center will celebrate its 25-year anniversary in 2023, with a goal of reinforcing its stature as the “gateway through which visitors enhance their appreciation of North Carolina’s world-class clay culture.” 

American pottery guru Jack Troy says North Carolina rules. “No other state has such a highly developed pottery-consciousness,” he remarked. 

The annual “Celebration of Seagrove Potters Fall Festival & Studio Tour” occurs this year November 19 and 20.

 

Adding to the legend and lore of Why Not (also seen as Whynot) is the discovery of a “new soil type” in Whynot in 1995, by soil scientists working with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), a unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). 

While serving as a USDA Earth Team volunteer intern in 2013, Allison Kroeger reported that “whenever a new soil type is recognized, it is named after a nearby place of origin. Soil scientists found a new soil type in Whynot and named their soil ‘Wynott.’” 

“Although it’s pronounced the same way, soil scientists dropped the ‘h’ and added an extra ‘t,’ to give the soil name a more professional edge,” Kroeger said. 

“Since Wynott has been found in Whynot, soil scientists also have mapped this particular soil type in Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama,” she said, thereby spreading the influence of Why Not throughout the southeastern region of the United States. 

There are two other places in America that shared the name Whynot/Why Not. One is in eastern Mississippi’s Lauderdale County, located near Meridian. Here, the clay soil is red – ideal for dirt track auto racing. The Whynot Motorsports Park features a quarter-mile oval track. 

The Whynot, Miss., post office opened in 1852, and the most famous person born in the community was David Ruffin, lead vocalist for The Temptations of Motown Records’ fame. 

There was a Why Not in Lee County, Ky., in the eastern coal fields section of the state. The community was formed in 1883 on the Kentucky River. The village was renamed Old Landing in the early 1900s. 

Three other communities in Kentucky weave their way into the “town-naming story.” In Allegre in Todd County, someone suggested: “Let’s all agree on something and go home.” 

As town names were suggested at a settlement in Russell County, it seemed each was greeted with a chorus of “oh no” from the gallery. The solution was to name the place Ono…and go home. 

In Rockcastle County, residents ended “their dispute” by agreeing to take the name Disputanta. The unincorporated community now prefers to be called Clear Creek.

 

Back home in North Carolina, Barbecue, an unincorporated community located in Barbecue Township within Harnett County, is an intriguing destination. We’ll go there soon.