Core Sound Communities

Katie will be the sixth generation to live on this piece of land. 

Harriet Hill, Marshallberg 

      Marshallberg, located on the peninsula where Core Sound and the Straits meet, has a long and rich history of commercial fishing, boat building, farming, education, and church life. Families have lived there for generations. Many of the two-story homes with wrap-around porches were built by Curt Davis, known as a “fine house carpenter,” high praise from a community of boatbuilders. One of Davis’ descendants recalled that “he’d walk to neighboring communities to work, even to the ferry at Gloucester to get to Harkers Island. He’d be gone a week at the time.”  

Marshallberg was known as Deep Hole Point in pre-Civil War days, named for an immense hole dredged in Sleepy Creek. The heavy, wet earth was loaded on scows and transported to the east end of Bogue Banks, used to build the ramparts of Fort Macon which was being built from 1828-1834. Deep Hole Point became Marshallberg upon the establishment of the Post Office, in honor of the area’s longtime mailboat captain Matt Marshall.  

As the twentieth century unfolded, Marshallberg grew. The busy, thriving community had two tomato canning companies, fish houses, a crab processing facility, several stores, the Lyric movie theater, a school that went through the sixth grade, and even an academy of higher learning. The community produced countless schoolteachers, as well as five doctors.  

Dr. Laurie Moore was from Marshallberg. He was well loved, and took care of his patients whether they could pay or not. His grave in the Victoria Cemetery says, “Our Generous and Kind Beloved Physician.” Joel Hancock recalls seeing Dr. Moore for his college physical. “He was puffing on a cigarette, and said, ‘Don’t ever start these things.’ He’d say, ‘If you got money pay Edna, if not just go on.’”  

Mildon Willis and Sons Boatworks, established in 1910, operated on the banks of Marshallberg Harbor, building and repairing boats ranging from small skiffs to large ocean-going vessels. The world famous Albatross charter boat fleet of Hatteras Island was built by Mildon Willis, just one example of how far-flung coastal communities were linked despite the lack of roads.  

Jarrett Bay Boatworks is known worldwide as a top manufacturer of recreational fishing vessels. Launched in Williston, Jarrett Bay moved to Marshallberg and built boats on Mildon Willis’ former site. Owner Randy Ramsey named two Marshallberg builders as major influences.  Myron “Ace” Harris was a pioneer of charterboat fishing, and he and his son Buddy built a charter boat each winter in Marshallberg. Ramsey Ramsey said, “Captain Ace’s boats performed well in the ocean, were efficient, and set the bar for charter boats along the Carolina coast for many years.” Boat builder Ray Davis was a Marshallberg icon, known for launching works of beauty on the banks of Sleepy Creek, and for his kind and sharing nature. “Throughout our years in Marsahllberg, Ray would visit almost daily, riding his bike and taking time to offer a helping hand or kind word,” Ramsey mused. The Davis family tradition is carried on today by Ray’s grandson Gary Davis, who is part of the Jarrett Bay team on Core Creek.   

Claude Brown was known as the “last pioneer” of Marshallberg. He kept livestock on Brown’s Island, procured much of his own food, and fished his nets right up until the day he died in 1998. He named his boat the Miss Belle after his wife. He was one of the first, along with Myron Harris, to run party boats out of Marshallberg Harbor. He was an ace baseball player who also had a reputation as a horseman, leading the seasonal “pony penning” on Core Banks. He calmed and tamed wild horses by riding them into deep water.  

“Uncle Claude could make it if you put him in a sandspur patch,” reflected his nephew Julian Brown. “Old heads” like his Uncle Claude represented a fading ethos. They valued hard work, knew everybody’s name in the neighborhood, and paid their debts. Most of all they valued independence and made a living peddling vegetables, seafood, and meat they butchered themselves. Julian Brown relayed the time he told his grandfather he had gotten a job teaching school in Engelhard. “I’ve signed a contract,” he told the old man. His grandfather didn’t reply. After a bit, the younger man said, “Granddaddy, you don’t act like you’re too happy with my decision.”  

“Well son,” his grandfather responded, “You must not think much of your life when you start selling it off by the hour.”