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Old City Hall, Brunswick
Old City Hall. Construction on Old City Hall began in 1886 from an architectural design by Alfred Eichberg, and was completed in 1889, with the installation of the clock/bell tower in 1893. The architectural style is "Richardsonian Romanesque", with Queen Anne parallels. 1229 Newcastle Street.
Brunswick Old Town Historic District. National Register of Historic Places 79000727. P1210163Susan and I had decided to make our long-planned visit to St. Augustine, Florida, the center of our spring road trip this year. We also planned to go to Walt Disney World, which we last visited in 2004. We'd be there during the Flower and Garden Show at Epcot. The show would include Disney themed flora and topiary! Drew, who finished his university studies in December, wanted to come along, too.
So, we left on Saturday morning with the goal of stopping for the night in Brunswick, Georgia. It was a good day's run, leaving at 9:00 a.m. and arriving at 8:00 p.m. with a break for lunch at 2:00 p.m. We stayed at the Hampton Inn and had seafood for dinner at Captain Joe's.
Now, Brunswick had at first been envisioned as a mere overnight waypoint. But, as I researched Brunswick, I found there were things to be seen here.
On Sunday morning we set out about 9:00 a.m. and headed downtown. Brunswick had been founded in 1771 when the Georgia colony purchased Mark Carr's tobacco plantation. The town was laid out in an innovative grid design--very different from the plan of colonial Williamsburg, VA--and included several
Old City Hall, Brunswick
Old City Hall, Brunswick, GA. Construction on Old City Hall began in 1886 from an architectural design by Alfred Eichberg, and was completed in 1889, with the installation of the clock/bell tower in 1893. The architectural style is "Richardsonian Romanesque", with Queen Anne parallels. 1229 Newcastle Street.
Brunswick Old Town Historic District. National Register of Historic Places 79000727. P1210164 spacious squares. The squares were patterned after Jame Oglethorpe's Oglethorpe Plan for Savannah, founded in 1733. Today's downtown Historic District still follows the original street grid and the squares continue to provide urban green spaces in the sunny climate. (Though the squares do not dominate the downtown as they do in Savannah.) Brunswick was burned during the Civil War and so no Colonial or early Federal period buildings survive. After the Civil War, Brunswick rebounded as a seaport and lumber products processing and transshipment point. By the Gilded Age at the end of 19th century, the prosperous city erected several landmark buildings that still stand. Brunswick is Georgia's second deepwater port, after Savannah.
All was quiet on a Sunday morning as we entered downtown and we had the place to ourselves. Downtown Brunswick had a number of notable structures.The Old City Hall anchors the south end of the downtown Historic District. It's a wonderful Victorian Romanesque Revival confection, beautifully preserved. The Ritz Theatre, built as the Opera House, anchors the north end. The Ritz, once a cinema, is now a live music and theatre performance venue. The theatre has been remodeled several times and has lost its Victorian gingerbread,
Queen's Square
Queen's Square. One of four squares in the 1771 town plan. Brunswick's grid layout is similar to that of Savannah's. Today's downtown Historic District still follows the original street grid and the squares continue to provide urban green spaces in the sunny climate.
Brunswick Old Town Historic District. National Register of Historic Places 79000727. P1210166 but it's still an impressive brick structure. In between are stores and restaurants old and new along Newcastle Street. We saw Queen's Square, but not the other three that complete the Georgian symmetry.
There was more to see, but we needed to push on to St. Simons Island and Fort Frederica.
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