This is Amy Wagenaar from the Historical Society of Michigan with a Michigan History Moment. They're among the most beautiful architectural tiles in the world, and they're made in Detroit, Michigan. Pewabic pottery originated with Mary Chase Perry, who was born in the Upper Peninsula mining town of Hancock in 1867. Her father died when she was 10 years old, forcing her mother to move the family to Ann Arbor. There, Perry began taking art lessons. The family moved to Detroit, where she began to earn money painting china. Firing the pieces of china required a kiln. That brought her into contact with a neighbor, Horace Calkins, whose company made a kiln used for firing dental porcelains. Mary Chase Perry began traveling the country to market the kiln to fellow china painters. Seeking a new outlet for her creativity, Perry turned to pottery. She embraced the Arts and Crafts movement that emphasized traditional craftsmanship and organic ornamentation. In 1903, she went into partnership with Horace Calkins and opened a pottery in a rented carriage house in Detroit. Perry and Calkins at first referred to the pottery as the Stable Studio or Revelation Pottery. Their first big order came from Burley and Company, a well known Chicago dry goods firm. That company's owner recommended that they find a stronger trade name for their business, so they chose Pewabic, naming it after the copper mine in Hancock. The business soon outgrew the stable Studio. In 1907, Pewabic moved into an English Tudor style building designed by architect William Buckstraten, who was a founding member of the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts. Stratton urged Perry to focus on architectural tiles. The tiles gained increasing popularity. Perry and Stratton hired a staff of pottery workers so that she could concentrate on creating iridescent glazes that made Pewabic famous. Perry and stratton married in 1918, and in 1927 the couple moved to a new house in Grosse Pointe park. During the 1920s, Pewabic tiles went into new architectural gems around the nation, most famously at the National Shrine of the Immaculate conception in Washington, D.C. Mary Chase Perry continued working at Pewabic until her death in 1961 at the age of 94. Pewabic pottery continues in business to this day. Pewabic Pottery was listed on the National Register of historic places in 1971 and named a National Historic Landmark in 1991. This Michigan history moment was brought to you by MichiganHistoryMagazine.org.