Contents
Story
Decoys
Credits
🟡 LIMITED RESEARCH VOLUME
OWNERS
Elmer Dewey Willis
Owner name
post WW II–photos from md 1970s
OTHER ASSOCIATIONS
Associations
LOCATION
Southern Core Banks
Story
do you know more? contact me.
Elmer Dewey Willis Camp
Clinton and Charles Piner’s (owner of Piner Brothers Electric, Davis) camp was located on South Core Banks, just four miles southeast across Core Sound from the Oyster Creek in Davis. The camp was built on the main banks just across Swash Creek from the Horse Island, 1.1 miles north of the NPS’s North Dock (AKA Carlie’s dock), and just 3/10’s of a mile north of my father, Monroe Nelson’s camp. Today’s location would be 200 yards north of the back road ramp at NPS’s mile marker 28. Clinton and Charles also had a brother names Burgess Piner, owner of Piner’s Plumbing in Williston, but he wasn’t one of the owners. From the aerial photo, Clinton and Charles Piner’s camp is the middle one. The second wide view picture that’s at eye level, shows the camp even better and the third picture is a close-up shot. I’ve verifies this with Linda Piner Willis, (Davis) Clinton’s daughter. She also verified the names of the other camp owners. From the two wide view photo’s of all three cabins, the cabin to the far right was owned by Elmer Dewey Willis and the cabin on the far left was owned by brothers Wesley and Peck Salter of Davis. Braxton Piner’s aluminum trailer camp is located on the beach side of the Salter cabin, and is sitting out front on a sand dune. Clinton and Charles’ camp was built on a little sand ridge and had a wooden walkway all the way from the camp to the boat dock on Swash Creek. The Piner cabin was a very nice cabin with indoor plumbing, lights and a generator. Linda Willis said that she enjoyed many trips to the camp where they clammed, set mullet and spot nets, surf fished, played games, ate good food, and took trips riding up and down the beach in cars and trucks. She indicated that she had great family times there, and still feels connected to the banks and the cabin through her precious family memories.
Ricky Nelson
Just as a disclaimer, the maps you have of Core Banks indicates that the name of what I call Swash Creek is listed as Horse Island Creek. Even Google Earth has it listed as Horse Island Creek. I have never heard of it being referred to as Horse Island Creek by any of my family or residents of Stacy, Davis or Sea Level, so I will call it by its name known to me as “Swash Creek”.–RN
Elmer Dewey Willis’ camp was located on South Core Banks just 4 miles across Core Sound from the Oyster Creek in Davis. The camp was built on the main banks just across Swash Creek from the Horse Island, 1.1 mile north of the NPS’s North Dock (AKA Carlie’s dock) and just 3/10’s of a mile north of Monroe Nelson’s and Elmer Salter’s camps. The current location would be described as 250 yards north of the NPS’s back road ramp at mile marker 28.
From the aerial photo, it would be the cabin on the far right. The eye level, wide view picture shows it better and the single pictures are great close-ups. The camps of Braxton Piner, Charles and Clinton Piner and Wesley and Peck Salter were close by. The ownership information was provided by Linda Piner Willis, daughter of Clinton Piner, via our phone conversation of 1-14-2024. Sammy Salter also verified this information. Elmer Dewey Willis was from Davis. My father, Monroe Nelson, would visit Elmer at his camp on occasions and would “argue” politics and talk seafood. The best I recall, “Crack”, as daddy called him, never lost a argument. I remember his cabin well as I walked by there many times during my younger years while exploring Core Banks and later years when walking the banks to jump shoot pheasants. Elmer Dewey Willis’ camp was probably one of the nicest cabins that I visited as it was built more like a regular home with lights and inside plumbing. The generator, water pump and water tank tower was just off the north side of the camp. The camp was close to the Swash Creek and had a nice dock there to tie the boats up to. They always had a couple newer looking trucks parked at the cabin.
Ricky Nelson
Credits
- Ricky Nelson contributed identification and narrative–Thanks!
- NPS files and archives
- Other references within text