Camp Davis and the Holly Ridge Boom: When a Tiny Village Became a City Overnight

The Town That War Built

Of all the extraordinary transformations that World War II brought to Onslow County, none was more dramatic than what happened to Holly Ridge. In 1940, Holly Ridge was a rural crossroads with a general store and a population of 28. By 1943, it was temporarily the largest city in North Carolina.

Camp Davis

Camp Davis was established in late 1940 as an anti-aircraft artillery training center, occupying over 46,000 acres of land stretching from Holly Ridge toward the coast. Named after Confederate Major General Richmond Pearson Davis (a North Carolina native), the camp was built to train soldiers in the rapidly evolving field of anti-aircraft warfare — a critical need as the United States prepared for a war that would be dominated by air power.

A Population Explosion

The base brought over 110,000 military personnel to the area at its peak. Holly Ridge was transformed almost overnight. Hotels, restaurants, shops, and entertainment venues sprang up to serve the soldiers. The town gained a bus station, a movie theater, and even its own newspaper. It was a boomtown in the truest sense — chaotic, crowded, and thriving.

Women at Camp Davis

Camp Davis was one of the first military installations in the country to host the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). Hundreds of women served at the camp in roles ranging from clerical work to operating anti-aircraft tracking equipment. Their presence at Camp Davis was part of the broader national mobilization that saw women enter the workforce and military service in unprecedented numbers.

The Bust

When the war ended, Camp Davis was decommissioned almost as quickly as it had been built. The military personnel left, the temporary businesses closed, and Holly Ridge shrank back toward its pre-war size. The camp's buildings were dismantled or left to decay. Today, very little physical evidence of Camp Davis remains — a few concrete foundations in the woods and the memories of a generation that has mostly passed.

Legacy

Holly Ridge today is a small, growing town of around 2,000 people, situated between Jacksonville and the beaches of Topsail Island. Most residents and visitors have no idea that their quiet community was once the most populous place in North Carolina. A small historical marker on Highway 17 is one of the few reminders of the extraordinary chapter that war wrote in this unlikely place.