Otway was first settled by residents who migrated northward from the Straits area in the 1700s, drawn by rich farmland and waters full of fish, crabs, and oysters. Since colonial times, 25 men from Otway followed a fall ritual of leaving for weeks to mullet fish in Duck Creek in Onslow County, where they caught large roe mullets, salted them, and brought them home. The community was named for the privateer Otway Burns, who was born in Swansboro, lived in Beaufort, and pursued ventures in shipbuilding, brick making, farming, and canal construction, including building North Carolina’s first steamboat, the Prometheus. After obtaining a Letter of Marque from the federal government, Burns used his fast ship Snap Dragon to capture enemy ships and took 1 1/2 million dollars worth of goods over four voyages, becoming the most successful privateer in America. After the War of 1812, he served in the North Carolina House of Commons and then for 5 years in the North Carolina Senate, and his name was later honored in Swansboro, Burnsville, and Otway. Otway was also the home of Decatur Gillikin, born in 1820, a memorable Carteret County figure whose great size, strength, and tall tales recalled the stories of Paul Bunyan.