Hewins Creek in southeastern Stokes County, N.C., a tributary of the Dan River, appears on old deeds in various spellings, including Hewins, Hewings, Hughens, and Uins. By the 20th century the name had evolved into "Eurins," which is how it appears on modern U.S. Geological Survey maps. My choice is Hewins, which it how it is seen most often on early deeds, including the original 18th century state land grant surveys made by surveyor Charles McAnally. I do not know the original source of the name, though it appears to be derived from someone's surname.

The gently rolling land around Hewins Creek has never been developed and remains in farming use. I visited the north side of the creek on a perfect spring morning on April 21, 1998, in the company of Tom Young, a native of the area and a Southern family descendant who arranged the visit. Most of the old Southern land is owned by dairy farmer Tom Shore, who generously allowed us to see the property. We saw no above-ground evidence of human habitation of any era, though our visit was limited to the section along the north bank of the creek near the fork.

The following are samples of the photos we made during our visit. The photos were made along sections A1, A2 (on the north side of the creek), and B2 as shown on the map of Hewins Creek:

Photo 1: A view along the north bank of the creek

Photo 2: The fork of the creek

Photo 3: The meadow on the north side of the creek

Photo 4: Tom Shore's contented cows