Dews Island Hunt Club Scrapbook, 1911-circa 1940s, PC.5078

[Identification of item], PC.5078, Dews Island Hunt Club Scrapbook, Outer Banks History Center, Manteo, NC, U.S.A.

The Dew Island Hunt Club Scrapbook largely consists of 8" x 10" silver gelatin prints of the club and the surrounding area in the 1930s. Images depict sunset scenes on the Currituck Sound, boats anchored in the club's boat basin and dock, exterior and interior shots of the clubhouse (interior shots include room measurements), and ducks and geese coming in on the North Pond. Also included is a photostatic copy of U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Topographic Sheet no. 292, depicting Dews Island (labeled Dew Quarter Island) with handwritten annotations by the creator indicating the location of the clubhouse, garage, North Pond, and two other ponds. In addition to the scrapbook, the collection includes a folder of enclosures containing two aerial photographs of Dews Island (circa 1940s), a published article written by George A. Eyer for The Sportsman Magazine (1932), and a snapshot of a family on a horse-drawn cart, labeled "Taken at summer cottage of Mr. & Mrs. W.J. Old at Nags Head 1911. Margarette Old, Ruth Hanes, Alice Outlaw (McQueen), Ed Old Jr., Walter Old, Margaret Hollowell)".

Chronological by content

The Dews Island Hunt Club was established by New York City resident George A. Eyer in 1929 on Dews Island, a small island on the Currituck Sound near present-day Jarvisburg in Currituck County. Prior to establishing the club, the surrounding marshland was largely desolate and devoid of wildlife. In order to attract more ducks and geese, Eyer closed off the pond on the north side of Dews Island in 1930 and built three small islands in the pond, on which he planted bushes and scattered sand and gravel. He then erected a chicken wire fence around the pond and purchased 125 water birds to populate the area. Eyer claimed he was able to attract over 5,000 birds to the area within two years. In an article on the establishment of the pond, he encouraged other waterfront property owners to undertake similar efforts to attract birds to their properties, in order to preserve the diminishing supply of waterfowl for hunting.

In 1943, Eyer sold the club to Congressman Thurmond Chatham of Winston-Salem, N.C., and the property was eventually purchased by the Wright family (proprietors of Sanctuary Vineyards). Until at least the 2010s, the club continued to operate and accept members, although it appears to have closed to the public sometime around 2015.

The creator of this scrapbook is unidentified, but evidence suggests it may have been created by George A. Eyer. The images in the scrapbook depict the property during the time that Eyer owned it in the 1930s, and the photostatic map inside the scrapbook is labeled with plans for further development of the hunting grounds. Additionally, a published article written by Eyer (included in this collection) depicts one of the photographs from the scrapbook.

Collection Contents

Eyer, George A.

Dews Island Hunt Club

Duck shooting

Goose shooting

Hunting--Social aspects

Hunting and fishing clubs--North Carolina

Waterfowl shooting

Currituck County (N.C.)--History

Dews Island (N.C.)

Donated by Virginia O'Neil, May 2015.

Processed by Samantha Crisp, December 2017.