Ghermann Holland’s Camp

Story

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She remembers them carrying large ice blocks to the camp, but later, they had a gas refrigerator, gas stove, a bathroom with a pump into the tank of the toilet, kitchen with hand pump, bedrooms separated by walls, gas heaters in the bedrooms, lanterns for light and a septic tank back into the woods edge.  Patsy went there beginning in her early teens.

Little remained of the original homesite near the Mullet Pond —a mound was behind the site, yielding a lot of bottles (trash pile?-)—even some round bottom bottles—given later to Parsons store—and a cistern remnant, with piles of bricks, less than 10 yards off the shore at low tide—left over from the site.

Joe Lane Lewis, Patsy’s uncle, had a camp to the west of “Ghermann’s Camp” (spelling varies).

Patsy believes that the earlier Joe Lewis is likely the one in the Wade’s Shore Cemetery. The property which he owned, she believed, stretched from the inlet to Dr. Moore’s property (deeds seem to confirm this she said). 

Grandfather Charlie built the camp (about 1935) along Wade Shore. Cedar posts were used for the foundation pilings.  We “absolutely loved that camp!” When built, “it used to be “shoaly” up where the camp sat. Initially, the camp “was all up and away from the water.” The family went to the camp every weekend and for vacations, staying a week.

Patsy’s grandfather was a fisherman and Ghermann was sheriff and a fish house owner in Beaufort. Ghermann came along on weekends if possible.

The camp had a bathroom with a hand pump to pump into the tank of the commode, separated bedrooms with bunks in the far room to the west, kitchen area with table, a hammock on the porch and a long Coast Guard stable on the east side of the porch. There were gas heaters in the bedrooms, lanterns, a septic system that ran into the back edge of the woods. They had an ice box and she members them carrying big ice blocks. She doesn’t remember when they got the gas stove. The porch had waist high siding with screens above—in earlier days. After Ghermann acquired the property, Patsy and her grandfather still visited there frequently.  Ghermann maintained the camp for both families to use. (see Patsy’s schematic layout). Patsy, now 88, was there when 14—16 years old.

The Holland Camp or Lewis-Holland Camp is remembered by many Carteret County locals and served as a landmark along the shore. Ghermann was a fish dealer with his fish house just across the Beaufort bridge. He served as sheriff and later held political offices. He and Charlie Lewis were close friends.

Ghermann, like most cabin owners, loaned his camp for use by many friends and welcomed many guests when there. This structure also served as weekend dormitory for the county’s innovative and forward thinking marine science program.

Captain Josiah Bailey wrote of his Wade’s Shore experience—one shared by hundreds or thousands then and still providing new memories today. Karen Amspacher and Joel Hancock, editors, chose the Holland camp for the poems backdrop in The Mailboat.

The Holland and Lewis families gathered at the camp even when Holland was busy with his duties.

The camp in better days and in worse days–likely near its end.

#47 on NPS map

BELOW | Judy Spitsbergen led weekend field trips to the Banks for the Marine Science program sponsored by the County/Hampton Mariner’s Museum partnership.  

High school students used the Holland Camp and one other as dormitories for their time there.

As was the case for most camps, the Holland camp was given to friends for a week or two at a time, broadening their use by locals. Leslie Asdenti (descendant of Dominique Asdenti-jetty worker and storekeeper at the Cape) seen here on the porch of the Holland camp.

Near the end of its life, seen here with a rusting auto alongside and the structure deteriorating. The position on the shore allowed the high tide to bring water underneath the camp.  

The camp and holdings he obtained from the Lewis family totaled over 400 acres. Holland apparently allowed camps to be built along the edge of the woods upon his property. Tracts 102-08 and 102-11 were purchased from Holland and Mabel Uzzell, of New Bern for $1,685,000 in 1983 by the National Park Service, as they established the Park. A 25-year lease was given to Holland, but the camp soon fell victim to arson, as did those of other owners who had secured leases.

A legal survey supporting negotiations was performed of the camp and the “annex” of other camps on the Holland property–“annex” camps did not have ownership but most certainly had Holland’s permission.

47–C.G. Holland (from NPS survey)

Beaufort

erected 1935

700 sq ft plus

porch 1041 sq ft

board and batten siding

shallow driven well

structure on the sound

sewer line appears to run uphill

served up to 13 people?

designated a “dwelling” in fair condition

wood frame on creosote pilings (pictures show pilings are tree cut-offs)

4 doors 10 windows

paint “none”

asphalt shingles over cedar shakes

“solid”

considerable trash in area

skeletons of 3 vehicles in area

heating and gas for cooking

3 rooms 2 bedrooms

interior wood plank/drywall

pump inside and outside

?drum septic??

Structures #47-53 appear to all be on Holland land and existed as leases–Cantwell document combines these as components of Holland presentation

Decoys

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There are no decoys known to me from this camp which focused on fishing and recreation.

The Holland Camp

Local interviews by the Park Service mention this camp–

IL: The summer I went, in ’38, we were shrimping along Wades Shore. We had sweep nets about 30 yards long, two men work together over there. [You had your spot to shrimp] I remember the night me and my friend and nephew were over there. We went right over to where we call Gunnery Camp, an old camp we had there during the War. We took the sail down to the shore. We’d get there before dark, see. We’d sit there and the sun setting and the flood tide coming in and the moon, wind, light coming out of southwest; prettiest time. A couple of boys were out there in a little boat there and had a lantern… 

(Ira Lewis, Cape Lookout oral history project)—

——- As outlined above, the camp had other origins but sat, not far from Dr. Moore’s camp which was the Coast Guard beach Patrol structure.—————-Stan Rule

DC: Actually I’m not really too keen on the Shackleford deal. Someone, Ellis Yeomans or Ira Lewis or one of those guys. Ira, actually, just gave me some information. I think it was last year we were down at the Waterfowl Museum right here, about the history of Ghermann Holland’s camp. I never had heard this before and Ira swore it to be a fact and, of course, I know he is right. But during WWII the Coast Guard built a little place for the Coast Guard crew to get out of the weather which was down on the, which would have been east end of the present maritime forest out on Shackleford Banks. And, of course, that eventually came into not being useful and Ghermann Holland bought it from the Coast Guard and it became Ghermann Holland’s camp and there are still some pilings that have remained of the original camp and from that Coast Guard station. Because the deal was between the Cape Lookout lighthouse area and Beaufort Inlet, which is a nine or ten mile stretch, there was no Coast Guard establishment, so they wanted something about midway of the island during the war, so they put up that little housing project, right that little building. And that’s why that was there.

Dennis Chadwick, above, interviewed by the CALO project, repeated Ira Lewis’ rec olldections, but deeds and other references clarify these were cherished memories but with faulty history.

MADGE GUTHRIE 26 

“MG: You don’t have one with the other part? Cause where we stayed was up past the High Hill, Gerhman’s camp. (CALO interview)

So, the map makers, they weren’t a 100 percent. There’s Whale Creek, I think they got that right and High Hills.
MG: That High Hill there, they said it would look like a sun rising. That turned us around cause the sun came up in the west instead of the east’ard.
CM: So when the sun came up in the east it would shine on that high hill and it would look like another sun rising.
MG: I could tell from here, it looked right gold. Of course it was that kind of dirt, too. CM: And there’s Bald Hill. Now, this is where the Crissie Wright came a shore (The Lewis-Holland Camp sat on the shore with the High Hills area behind it.)

Somebody burned that when they had all that burning going on.”

Credits

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1. Wayne Davis–Harkers Island
2. Patsy Walston– Cape Carteret
3. Cape Lookout Oral History Project–National Park Service
4. Dennis Spitsbergen
5. NPS files and archives
6. Other references within text