Fish Camp at Broadcreek
The Reilley and Simmons families envisioned Fishcamp on Broad Creek as a community spot where neighbors could gather over delicious meals and share laughter. After restoring the original Simmons Fishing Camp building, Fishcamp on Broad Creek opened to rave reviews in October 2016. The land and the Camp boast a rich history rooted in Gullah culture. Today, we preserve that family spirit at Fishcamp on Broad Creek by honoring the history and significance of the site – in the original building offering great seafood, and in Cap’n Charlie Simmon’s memory through excellent service.
ABOUT CHARLIE SIMMONS
Charlie Simmons, Sr., was a native Gullah/Geechee of Hilton Head Island who passed away on May 10, 2005, just two months before his 100th birthday. He was a lifelong member of the First African Baptist Church on the island. He attended prayer meetings there up to three nights a week and served as a deacon for 75 years. Mr. Simmons truly lived his life in service to all, as evidenced by the various names that the Gullah-Geechee and others who came to the island called him. The names included “Cap’n Charlie,” “Mr. Transportation,” “Mr. Hilton Head,” “Mr. Charlie,” “Bubba,” “Pop,” and “Deac,” but he called most men “Brother.”
“Cap’n Charlie” spent the greater part of his life on the sea transporting goods and people to and from Hilton Head before a bridge connected the island to the mainland in 1956. Thus, it is quite fitting that his name will be memorialized in the means by which people get transported onto the island today.
“Cap’n Charlie” piloted sailboats and later was the first to own a motorboat on the island. He would bring butter beans, watermelons, shrimp, oysters, crabs, cows, and chickens to the market in Savannah, GA, from Hilton Head Island, along with many Gullah-Geechee from the island three times per week. He also transported students to school and midwives to the bedsides in a number of places. He brought home supplies that community members needed on his return trips. Much of what the Gullah/Geechee needed that they did not grow, they could purchase in one of the two general stores that Mr. Simmons owned. His stores helped to keep the lights on when the Gullah/Geechees needed Kerosene for lamps; they could head over to Mr. Simmons.
“Cap’n Charlie’s” last boat was the “Alligator.” He probably had no idea how many of these creators would now live on Hilton Head in lagoons, nor how many of his people would be transported off the island and never return because they could no longer afford the taxes to live there. In many indigenous cultures, the alligator represents the instinct to survive. No doubt, Mr. Charlie Simmons, Sr., had this instinct and was a true example of the communal living and service that are central to Gullah/Geechee traditions. May his name live on beyond the bridge! Gwine on, Cap’n! Gwine on! GAWD bless hunnuh soul!