The Old Edgefield Pottery, founded in 1992, is the culmination of a goal of the Edgefield County Historical Society to educate the public as to the significance of the alkaline-glazed tradition in the heritage of the arts and humanities in Southern decorative arts. The organization set out to find a potter knowledgeable and skilled in the Edgefield tradition.

Through research, the society located in the Greenville, SC area a potter who had long been a collector and student of the Edgefield tradition. Stephen Ferrell, after years of collecting and research, became a potter, a teacher, and a writer focusing on the Edgefield tradition.

The society refurbished an old building off the Town Square in Edgefield to house the project. It is the goal of the project to re-establish the pottery traditions in the county, to educate the public, to the importance of alkaline-glazed pottery as a Southern art form, to emphasize the Afro-American influence on this tradition, and promote cultural tourism in the community.