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How Brunswick Named Its Streets
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Brunswick itself it's named for the German ancestral home of King George II, grantor of Georgia's original land charter. The City was laid out in 1771, and sought to honor the King and House of Hanover when it named its streets and squares. Surprisingly, and unlike most other cities in colonial America, the streets' names weren't changed after the Revolution.
 Albany Street- for the Duke of Albany, brother of King George III.
Amherst Street-for Jeffrey Amherst, commander of all British troops during the Revolutionary War.
Dartmouth Street- for William, second Earl of Dartmouth, Secretary of State under George III.
Egmont Street-for Philip Percival, Lord Egmont, first President of the Board of Trustees of the Georgia colony.
George Street-for King George III.
Gloucester Street-for the Duke of Gloucester, brother of George III.
Halifax Square-for the second Earl of Halifax. Halifax, Nova Scotia was named for him as well.
Hanover Square-for the ruling house of Britain.
Hillsborough Square-for the Earl of Hillsborough, who was Secretary of State for the colonies at the time of Brunswick's founding.
London Street-for homesick Englishmen.
Newcastle Street-for the Duke of Newcastle, later Prime Minister of England.
Prince Street-for the Prince of Wales, eldest son of George III.
Reynolds Street-for John Reynolds, first Royal Governor of Georgia.
Union Street-not in homage to the north, but rather to commemorate the union of Scotland and England.
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Liberty Ships
 During World War II, Brunswick shipyards bustled with activity critical to America's war efforts.
Between 1943 and 1945, the shipyard built 99 of these 447-foot cargo vessels. With no name painted on their bows so as to give the enemy no hint as to their mission or cargo, these ships sailed the Atlantic and Pacific loaded with equipment and supplies.
The dedication of the men and women of the shipyards was best exemplified during December, 1944. Receiving word that the Navy would require six ships during that month, the shipyard workers, instead, guaranteed seven and requested that they not be paid for the extra work required including work done on Christmas Day!
A 23-foot, scale replica of a Liberty is displayed on the grounds of the Mary Ross Waterfront Park in downtown Brunswick. The park is located at the western end of Gloucester Street.
For more information about the Liberty Ships, please visit www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link-vsbg
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Howyl-Broadfield plantation
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Around 1807, what was once a vast cypress swamp gave way to the strong will of one Baker Brailsford, who carved from the inhospitable terrain a rice plantation along the banks of the Altamaha river. Brailsford's son-in-law, James M. Troup, acquired more land and oversaw its growth to over 7,000 acres worked by some 350 slaves. It was a highly productive venture until war; hurricanes and the abolition of slavery caused its decline. Today, Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation stands very much as it did at the end of its rice-producing era. Visitors can drive the short distance north from Brunswick and see a model of a busy rice plantation, fine antiques, and a movie. Both the house and the surrounding lands take one back to a time and life long since faded away.
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Spanish Moss
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 The thick gray drapery that festoons the Oak trees in and around the Golden Isles is one of this area's most remarked upon features. Yet it is not a moss, nor is it Spanish. Its scientific name is Tillansia usneoides and it's an epiphyte- a plant growing on another plant.
Spanish moss is Photosynthetic - producing it's own food and getting water from the moisture in the air. Flattened scales, which give it a ghostly gray color, help to reduce water loss. Exactly why it's called Spanish moss remains a mystery although the most common explanation is that it is found in so many regions of the new world first explored by the Spanish.
A rather lyrical description of this plant was offered by James J. Kilpatrick, who wrote of Spanish moss as a metaphor for it's native region: "An indigenous, indestructible part of the southern character; it blurs, conceals, softens and wraps the hard limbs of hard times in a fringe shawl."
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Blimps Over Brunswick
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 Longtime residents of Brunswick & The Golden Isles clearly remember when huge helium airships, or blimps, were a common site in the skies above the coast. These graceful, lighter-than-air crafts first arrived in 1943, after Brunswick was selected by the U.S. Navy as the site for one of a network of air stations it established to patrol for German U-boats in coastal shipping lanes.
Construction on the air station began in September, 1942 and was completed in January, 1943. The most formidable part of the project was the building of what were at the time the largest wooden structures in the world: the two gargantuan hangars, each 1,000 feet long, 300 feet wide and over 200 feet tall and able to hold six football fields, that would house the blimp fleet. Throughout the war, the fleet of airships based here at Naval Air Station Glynco logged thousands of hours of air time in coastal patrols and convoy escorting.
In fact, airships from the Brunswick operation can boast that they escorted some 98,000 ships during the war without a single vessel or airship loss. Today, the use of jet aircraft and sophisticated electronics have replaced the blimp in anti-submarine warfare. However, these ungainly looking craft performed a vital mission during World War II. (The Navy decommissioned the Air Base in 1958 and the blimp hangars were demolished in 1971.)
Today, Glynco is the site of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the largest law enforcement organization in the nation. (FLETC).
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The Marshes of Glynn
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 "...By a world of marsh that borders a world of sea. Sinuous southward and sinuous northward the shimmering band of the sand beach fastens the fringe of the marsh to the folds of the land."
In the 1870s, Georgia poet Sidney Lanier was inspired to write "The Marshes of Glynn" as he stood and beheld the vast marshlands that embrace Brunswick & The Golden Isles.
These marshes are undoubtedly one of the area's most remarkable sights. But they do much more than dazzle those who view them. The salt marshes are a fragile yet enormously productive ecosystem, considered as some of the most extensive and productive marshlands in the world.
These coastal marshlands are an essential support system for Georgia's multimillion-dollar seafood industry. The sun's energy and the nutrients from the rivers are captured by the marsh grass (Spartina alterniflora) and microscopic plants that support the food chains of shrimp, fish, oysters and crabs.
Some land animals such as raccoon, otter, marsh wren and rabbit live, breed and feed in the marshes as well. And as a natural buffer, the marshes protect the inhabited upland areas from storms.
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Historic Stained Glass
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 Throughout Brunswick & The Golden Isles, in themes both sacred and historic, are found beautiful works of stained glass. Examples include:
King and Prince Beach & Golf Resort
St. Simons Island
Historic island sites are depicted in arched pictorial windows, created in 1940, in the oceanside Delegal Room of the Resort.
Faith Chapel
Historic District, Jekyll Island
This small church, built in 1904, has two inspiring stained glass windows. Most notable is the window bearing the signature of Louis Tiffany.
Lovely Lane Chapel
Epworth by the Sea, St. Simons Island
This small chapel was built in 1880 by Anson Dodge. In the early 1900s, the windows were removed and stored at Christ Church while the structure was used for non-religious purposes. They were re-installed in the 1940s.
Christ Church
St. Simons Island
Built in 1884 by the Dodge family, this historic church possesses numerous stained glass windows of great beauty. The oldest, Confession of St. Peter, was created by Mayer & Company of Munich, Germany in 1899. One window is attributed to Louis Tiffany.
St. Paul's AME Church
Brunswick, Georgia
Brunswick's oldest black church has a handsome example of stained glass believed to have been commissioned by its members in 1922.
Other examples may be viewed at:
The Cloister Hotel's Spanish Lounge, Sea Island; The Jekyll Island Club Hotel, Jekyll Island; St. Mark's Episcopal Church (including one Tiffany window), Brunswick; St. Athanasius Episcopal Church, Brunswick; Beth Tefilloh Synagogue, Brunswick; First United Methodist Church, Brunswick.
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Wildlife: Here, There, Everywhere
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 There is no better proof of the unspoiled natural beauty of the area than the abundance and variety of wildlife which inhabit this coastal low country. Yet, enjoying them rarely requires ardent searching. In fact, a drive along St. Simons or Jekyll causeways, or most any road that bends near marshlands and tidal creeks, can reveal feeding Marsh Rabbits in the spring or fall, Great Blue Herons, and Majestic White Egrets. When wading along the oceans edge or when near area rivers, one can often see a school of sleek porpoises and formations of pelicans diving for food in the waterways that teem with fish. Though usually seen at night and protected by federal law, Giant Loggerhead turtles have, for centuries found the beaches of the Golden Isles a preferred spot for laying their eggs. While not seen as often, but no less abundant are the deer, possums and armadillos which in habit the dense woods of the area. Ventures afoot into the marsh may discover fiddler crabs, raccoons, and numerous species of coastal birds.
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Georgia's Barrier Islands
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 Barrier islands are found along nearly the entire eastern seaboard of United States. From Florida northward to Maine, they change dramatically in character. Many of Georgia's barrier islands are among the most pristine anywhere. Geologically these remarkable islands are considerably younger than the mainland. Some came into existence approximately 30,000 years ago; others emerged only within the last 5,000 years.
Barrier islands are not merely pieces of the mainland surrounded by water. These landmasses are continually changing as the powerful forces of winds, ocean currents, waves, storms and tides, shape them, Tides have the greatest impact on the evolution of the barrier islands In fact, the eastern coastline of Georgia is, in effect, the western end of a massive ocean funnel. Thus tides here rise higher (6'-8') and faster than anywhere else on the seaboard.
 Georgia's barrier islands, separated from the mainland by salt marshes, tidal rivers and sounds, are both dynamic ecosystems and the mainland's natural shields against hurricanes and ocean storms. St. Simons island, little St. Simons Island, Sea island, Jekyll island are found amid the clusters of barrier islands that hug Georgia's historic Atlantic coastline. These four islands, along with mainland Brunswick, are known collectively as Brunswick and the Golden Isles of Georgia.
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