In the early 1900's a foot bridge four feet wide ran across the creek from Smyrna through the community of Williston. Named after a prominent family in the region, Willis, this settlement had two stores. In 1925 Elmer Dewey Willis opened a seafood plant where clams soon became the specialty. Williston soon gained a state-wide reputation as the "clam capital" of North Carolina. The first Clam A Jama clam festival was held in his honor in 2006.