August 27, 2006

Samuel Carnes was an oilman, writer, inventor, and composer, but he is probably best known as founder and owner of the world-famous Camark Pottery. Carnes moved to Camden (Ouachita County) in the 1920s to pursue the oil business. However, due to his being a native of the “cradle of American art pottery” (Zanesville, Ohio), Carnes soon recognized that the local clay was suitable for pottery production. By 1927, Carnes opened the Camden Art Tile and Pottery Company. For the next forty-plus years, Camark art pottery was shipped and sold all over the United States. Though the company closed in the 1960s, its pottery is eagerly sought by collectors worldwide.