-rockette W. Hewlett married 



into the Masonboro magic. 



When Crockette moved with her 



husband Addison to his native town 



along Masonboro Sound in 1951, she 



was captured with the land — its great 



gusts, its salty spray, the view of nearby 



Masonboro Island. Crockette was so 



captured, in fact, she wanted to write 



about her new home. 



Twenty years later, Crockette set 



out to record the history of the community 



of Masonboro in Between the Creeks: 



A History of Masonboro Sound from 



1735 to 1970. 



Addison Hewlett, about whose native 



soil and people this history was written, 



was from a family that lived along 



Masonboro Sound for decades. The 



Hewletts and other clans who lived there 



in the 18th and 19th centuries were 



devoted to the coastal marshes and the 



distinct beauty that life by the water 



afforded. They lived in the midst of 



delicate grasses, crusty oaks, soaring terns 



— across the water from the untouched 



wilderness of Masonboro Island. 



These families have marked the 



Masonboro shores and the waters nearby 



as their homeland with gravestones, street 



signs and creek names. Hewletts Creek, 



which empties into Masonboro Sound, 



was named after Addison Hewlett's 



family. The Hewletts even owned part of 



Masonboro Island. 



Today, these families' legal ties to 



the island have been cut. The state owns 



almost all of Masonboro Island, which is 



now part of the N.C. National Estuarine 



Research Reserve. „ 



Continued 



Jndisturbed Legacy 



By Rachel Wharton 

 Photos by Walker Golder 



COASTWATCH 3 



