History of Brunswick, Georgia
Encyclopedia
This article chronicles the history of Brunswick
, Georgia
.
's Marine Boat Company, established his 1000 acres (4 km²) plantation along the Turtle River (at an area known as Plug Point). In 1771, the Royal Province of Georgia
purchased Carr's fields and laid out the town of Brunswick in the grid style following Oglethorpe's Savannah Plan. Brunswick obtained its name from the duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg
in Germany
, the ancestral home of King George II of Great Britain
.
In 1789, George Washington
proclaimed Brunswick one of the five original ports of entry for the colonies
. Because of this notion, the city began to prosper, and in 1797, the Georgia General Assembly
in Louisville
transferred the county seat of Glynn County from Frederica
on St. Simons Island
to Brunswick.
, the first public building, was built in 1819; it closed four years later due to lack of attendance. The school soon re-opened, however, and in 1840, a new building was erected on Hillsborough Square, the present location of Glynn Academy. In 1826, the Georgia General Assembly granted title to much of the undeveloped town to Urbanus Dart and William R. Davis. Soon after the title was granted, Brunswick had a courthouse, a jail, and about thirty houses and stores. Along with the founder of the Brunswick and Florida Railroad
, Thomas Butler King of St. Simons Island, Dart and Davis formed a company to construct a canal north to the Altamaha River
, connecting the natural port with interior plantations.
In 1836, the Oglethorpe House hotel was built; two years later, a newspaper was started and a new bank opened. But the panic of 1837 caused cotton
and timber
prices to plummet and languished the progress of the canal and railroad projects. The Cotton Crash of 1839 only put the city in further jeopardy.
Following a period of recession, the Altamaha-Brunswick Canal opened in 1854, followed by the railroad in 1856. Brunswick received its second charter that very year and was officially incorporated as a city on February 22, 1856. In 1860, the city had a population of 468, a weekly newspaper, a bank, and a sawmill.
, the Confederate States Army
burned the St. Simons Island Light
house as they left to keep it from falling into Union
hands. In Brunswick, wharves as well as the Oglethorpe House (which would have made an ideal headquarters or hospital for the Union Army) were burned. When the city was ordered to evacuate, most of the citizens fled to nearby Waynesville
. The canal and railroad ceased operation, and Brunswick was abandoned.
After suffering from post-war depression into the 1870s, in 1874, one of the nation's largest lumber mills began operation on St. Simons Island, leading to the return of economic prosperity. Canals and rivers gave way to rail traffic as the Brunswick & Albany
and Macon & Brunswick railroads connected Georgia to the Port of Brunswick
.
In 1878, poet and native Georgian Sidney Lanier
wrote his world-famous poem "The Marshes of Glynn
" based on the salt marsh
es that lie in Glynn County as he sought relief from tuberculosis
in Brunswick's climate. The Sidney Lanier Bridge
, which spans across the marshes, is named in his honor. There is a historical marker overlooking the marshes of Glynn commemorating Lanier and the poem, and a live oak tree near the marker is named the Sidney Lanier Oak.
The December 1888 issue of Harper's Weekly
predicted that "Brunswick by the Sea" was destined to become the winter Newport. Jekyll Island
had become a posh, exclusive getaway for some of the era's most influential people. Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Pulitzers, and Goodyears escaped to Brunswick and the Golden Isles to hunt, fish, and mingle. People flocked to the breathtaking Oglethorpe Hotel once it opened its doors in 1888.
In 1893, a yellow fever
epidemic compounded the troubles brought by worldwide depression. Two hurricanes
, one in 1893 and one in 1898, and their resulting storm surge flooded the city. However, the city quickly recovered because of the ever-expanding port business for cotton, lumber, naval stores, and oysters.
. A large gunpowder and munitions plant was built to the northwest of town, but it was not completed before the war ended.
During World War II
, German U-boats threatened the coast of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. Blimps
became a common site as they patrolled the coastal areas. During the war, blimps from Brunswick's Glynco Naval Air Station, at the time the largest blimp base in the world, safely escorted almost 100,000 ships without a single vessel lost to enemy submarines.
s and "Knot" ships (Type C1-M ship
s which were designed for short coastal runs, and most often named for knot
s) for the U.S. Maritime Commission
to transport matériel
to the European
and Pacific Theatre
s.
The first ship was the SS James M. Wayne (named after James Moore Wayne
), whose keel was laid on July 6, 1942 and was launched on March 13, 1943. The last ship was the SS Coastal Ranger, whose keel was laid on June 7, 1945 and launched on August 25, 1945. The first six ships took 305 to 331 days each to complete, but soon production ramped up and most of the remaining ships were built in about two months, bringing the average down to 89 days each. By November 1943, about four ships were launched per month. The SS William F. Jerman was completed in only 34 days in November and December 1944. Six ships could be under construction in slipway
s at one time.
In December 1944, the United States Navy
requested six ships from each shipyard. The workers guaranteed the delivery of not six, but seven ships. For the first eleven months of 1944, an average of 4.27 ships were launched per month. Up to this point the shipyard had never produced more than five ships in a calendar month, except for August 1944, in which six ships were launched. However, the first ship of August 1944 was launched on August 1 and the last one on August 31, and only three ships had been launched in July and only four ships were launched in September. So a ship that might well have been launched in July was actually launched on August 1. The workers fulfilled their promise of completing seven ships in December 1944 by working overtime, including working on Christmas Day
. Apart from the ships launched in December 1944, only one ship was completed in under 43 days. With the extra work, all of the ships launched this month were completed in 34 to 42 days (which included the SS William F. Jerman mentioned above).
Furthermore, the workers asked that they not be paid for their extra work. Each worker endorsed their time-and-a-half paycheck over to the government. They never produced more than five ships in a calendar month again, although a full five ships had been launched in the previous month of November and five more were launched the next month, January 1945. By March 1945 production of ships started to decline. The last ship launched was the SS Coastal Ranger, launched on August 25, 1945, shortly after the war ended.
Most of the Liberty ships from Brunswick were assigned to U.S. shipping companies and most of them were named after famous Americans (starting with U.S. Supreme Court
Justices from the South). However, numbers 19, 29, and 31–40 went to Great Britain
(Ministry of War Transport
) under the Supplemental Defense Appropriations Act of 1941 (see Lend-Lease
) and were given one-word names starting with "Sam" (e.g. Samdee). Number 73 went to the Norwegian government
.
An iron cut-away scale model (approximately 1:20) of a Liberty ship had been built for employee training. Sometime after the end of World War II this was put on display in Brunswick at the end of F. J. Torras Causeway near the shipyards. It was not maintained, however, and after twenty years it rusted badly and was scrapped. In 1987, efforts began to build and display a new model. This 23 feet (7 m) scale model was unveiled on August 23, 1991 in Mary Ross Park. It is very similar to the original scale model except that it is not cut away to reveal the inner decks. A new park (called Liberty Ship Park) is currently under construction near the site of the original Sidney Lanier Bridge and the model is to be moved there.
Embraer
EMB 120 plane crashed in Brunswick on April 5, 1991 due to propeller
control failure http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001212X16773&key=1 . The crash claimed the lives of all twenty-three people on board, including former U.S. Senator
John Tower
of Texas
and astronaut
Sonny Carter
.
Today Brunswick is home to a thriving port, the deepest natural port in the area. As the western-most harbor on the eastern seaboard, as well as the proclaimed "Shrimp Capital of the World," Brunswick bustles with activity. The city is also home to Hercules
, one of the oldest and most important yellow-pine chemical plants in the world. Rich-SeaPak Corporation and King and Prince Seafood are also based in the area. The Georgia Ports Authority
Mayor's Point and Marine Point Terminals, as well as the Colonel's Island Bulk Facility attract business from around the world.
Brunswick's Old Town residential and commercial district is the largest small town, urban National Register of Historic Places district in Georgia. Downtown is undergoing a revitalization through the National Main Street Program, preserving and showcasing its distinctive historic structures. Annual events such as the Old Town Tour of Homes, Concerts in the Square, the Brunswick Stewbilee, and HarborFest encourage visitors to discover the charms of Brunswick's parks and gracious homes.
Brunswick, Georgia
Brunswick is the major urban and economic center in southeastern Georgia in the United States. The municipality is located on a harbor near the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 30 miles north of Florida and 70 miles south of South Carolina. Brunswick is bordered on the east by the Atlantic...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
.
Early colonization
As early as 1738, the area's first English settler, Mark Carr, a captain in General James OglethorpeJames Oglethorpe
James Edward Oglethorpe was a British general, member of Parliament, philanthropist, and founder of the colony of Georgia...
's Marine Boat Company, established his 1000 acres (4 km²) plantation along the Turtle River (at an area known as Plug Point). In 1771, the Royal Province of Georgia
Province of Georgia
The Province of Georgia was one of the Southern colonies in British America. It was the last of the thirteen original colonies established by Great Britain in what later became the United States...
purchased Carr's fields and laid out the town of Brunswick in the grid style following Oglethorpe's Savannah Plan. Brunswick obtained its name from the duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Brunswick-Lüneburg
The Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , or more properly Duchy of Brunswick and Lüneburg, was an historical ducal state from the late Middle Ages until the late Early Modern era within the North-Western domains of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, in what is now northern Germany...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the ancestral home of King George II of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
In 1789, George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
proclaimed Brunswick one of the five original ports of entry for the colonies
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
. Because of this notion, the city began to prosper, and in 1797, the Georgia General Assembly
Georgia General Assembly
The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, being composed of the Georgia House of Representatives and the Georgia Senate....
in Louisville
Louisville, Georgia
Louisville is a city in Jefferson County, Georgia, United States. It is the former capital of Georgia and is the county seat of Jefferson County. It is located southwest of Augusta on the Ogeechee River, and its population was 2,712 at the 2000 census. The local pronunciation is the Americanized...
transferred the county seat of Glynn County from Frederica
Fort Frederica National Monument
Fort Frederica National Monument, on St. Simons Island, Georgia, preserves the archaeological remnants of a fort and town built by James Oglethorpe between 1736 and 1748 to protect the southern boundary of the British colony of Georgia from Spanish raids. About 630 British troops were stationed at...
on St. Simons Island
St. Simons, Georgia
St. Simons is a census-designated place located on St. Simons Island in Glynn County, Georgia, United States. Both the community and the island are commonly considered to be one location, known simply as "St. Simons Island", or locally as "The Island". St...
to Brunswick.
Commerce and expansion
Little development occurred in the town during the thirty years after its designation as the county seat. Records show that Glynn AcademyGlynn Academy
Glynn Academy is an American public high school in Brunswick, Georgia, USA,, enrolling 1,755 students in grades 9–12. Along with Brunswick High School, it is one of two high schools in the Glynn County School System...
, the first public building, was built in 1819; it closed four years later due to lack of attendance. The school soon re-opened, however, and in 1840, a new building was erected on Hillsborough Square, the present location of Glynn Academy. In 1826, the Georgia General Assembly granted title to much of the undeveloped town to Urbanus Dart and William R. Davis. Soon after the title was granted, Brunswick had a courthouse, a jail, and about thirty houses and stores. Along with the founder of the Brunswick and Florida Railroad
Brunswick and Florida Railroad
The Brunswick and Florida Railroad was chartered in 1835 and was originally planned to run from several areas in Southern Georgia and Northern Florida to Brunswick, Georgia. By 1859, the railroad stretched from Brunswick to Glenmore, Georgia, where it connected with the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad...
, Thomas Butler King of St. Simons Island, Dart and Davis formed a company to construct a canal north to the Altamaha River
Altamaha River
The Altamaha River is a major river of the American state of Georgia. It flows generally eastward for 137 miles from its origin at the confluence of the Oconee River and Ocmulgee River towards the Atlantic Ocean, where it empties into the ocean near Brunswick, Georgia. There are no dams...
, connecting the natural port with interior plantations.
In 1836, the Oglethorpe House hotel was built; two years later, a newspaper was started and a new bank opened. But the panic of 1837 caused cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
and timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
prices to plummet and languished the progress of the canal and railroad projects. The Cotton Crash of 1839 only put the city in further jeopardy.
Following a period of recession, the Altamaha-Brunswick Canal opened in 1854, followed by the railroad in 1856. Brunswick received its second charter that very year and was officially incorporated as a city on February 22, 1856. In 1860, the city had a population of 468, a weekly newspaper, a bank, and a sawmill.
American Civil War
During the Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the Confederate States Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
burned the St. Simons Island Light
St. Simons Island Light
The St. Simons Island Light is a lighthouse On the southern tip of St. Simons Island, Georgia, United States. It guides ships into St. Simons Sound and warns of the many sandbars in the area.- Original structure :...
house as they left to keep it from falling into Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
hands. In Brunswick, wharves as well as the Oglethorpe House (which would have made an ideal headquarters or hospital for the Union Army) were burned. When the city was ordered to evacuate, most of the citizens fled to nearby Waynesville
Waynesville, Georgia
Waynesville is an unincorporated community in Brantley County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the 'Brunswick, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area'. Its ZIP code is 31566.-Geography:Named after Revolutionary War Hero, General "Mad" Anthony B...
. The canal and railroad ceased operation, and Brunswick was abandoned.
After suffering from post-war depression into the 1870s, in 1874, one of the nation's largest lumber mills began operation on St. Simons Island, leading to the return of economic prosperity. Canals and rivers gave way to rail traffic as the Brunswick & Albany
Brunswick and Albany Railroad
Organized in 1869, the Brunswick and Albany Railroad was created to take over operation of the Brunswick and Florida Railroad which was a casualty of the civil war. Apparently the Confederate States of America took portions of the B&F rail line for use in other more strategic lines...
and Macon & Brunswick railroads connected Georgia to the Port of Brunswick
Port of Brunswick
The Port of Brunswick is an Atlantic seaport located in Brunswick, Georgia in the southeast corner of the state. It is one of four ports operated by the Georgia Ports Authority....
.
Late 19th century
Sidney Lanier
Sidney Lanier was an American musician and poet.-Biography:Sidney Lanier was born February 3, 1842, in Macon, Georgia, to parents Robert Sampson Lanier and Mary Jane Anderson; he was mostly of English ancestry. His distant French Huguenot ancestors immigrated to England in the 16th century...
wrote his world-famous poem "The Marshes of Glynn
The Marshes of Glynn
The Marshes of Glynn is one of Sidney Lanier's poems featured in "Hymns of the Marshes," an unfinished set of lyrical nature poems that describe the open salt marshes of Glynn County in coastal Georgia. The poem describes a marsh in detail, while evoking senses of patience and common decency.In...
" based on the salt marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
es that lie in Glynn County as he sought relief from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in Brunswick's climate. The Sidney Lanier Bridge
Sidney Lanier Bridge
The Sidney Lanier Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge that spans the Brunswick River in Brunswick, Georgia, carrying four lanes of U.S. Route 17. The current bridge was built as a replacement to the original lift bridge which was twice struck by ships. It is currently the longest spanning bridge in...
, which spans across the marshes, is named in his honor. There is a historical marker overlooking the marshes of Glynn commemorating Lanier and the poem, and a live oak tree near the marker is named the Sidney Lanier Oak.
The December 1888 issue of Harper's Weekly
Harper's Weekly
Harper's Weekly was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor...
predicted that "Brunswick by the Sea" was destined to become the winter Newport. Jekyll Island
Jekyll Island
Jekyll Island is an island off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia, in Glynn County; it is one of the Sea Islands and one of the Golden Isles of Georgia. The city of Brunswick, Georgia, the Marshes of Glynn, and several other islands, including the larger St. Simons Island, are nearby...
had become a posh, exclusive getaway for some of the era's most influential people. Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Pulitzers, and Goodyears escaped to Brunswick and the Golden Isles to hunt, fish, and mingle. People flocked to the breathtaking Oglethorpe Hotel once it opened its doors in 1888.
In 1893, a yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
epidemic compounded the troubles brought by worldwide depression. Two hurricanes
Tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor...
, one in 1893 and one in 1898, and their resulting storm surge flooded the city. However, the city quickly recovered because of the ever-expanding port business for cotton, lumber, naval stores, and oysters.
The World Wars
Wooden and concrete ships designed to repel mines were built in Brunswick for World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. A large gunpowder and munitions plant was built to the northwest of town, but it was not completed before the war ended.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, German U-boats threatened the coast of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. Blimps
Non-rigid airship
A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is a floating airship without an internal supporting framework or keel. A non-rigid airship differs from a semi-rigid airship and a rigid airship in that it does not have any rigid structure, neither a complete framework nor a partial keel, to help the airbag...
became a common site as they patrolled the coastal areas. During the war, blimps from Brunswick's Glynco Naval Air Station, at the time the largest blimp base in the world, safely escorted almost 100,000 ships without a single vessel lost to enemy submarines.
Liberty ships
In World War II, Brunswick boomed as over 16,000 workers of the J. A. Jones Construction Company produced ninety-nine Liberty shipLiberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
s and "Knot" ships (Type C1-M ship
Type C1 ship
Type C1 was a designation for small cargo ships built for the U.S. Maritime Commission before and during World War II. The first C1 types were the smallest of the three original Maritime Commission designs, meant for shorter routes where high speed and capacity were less important. Only a handful...
s which were designed for short coastal runs, and most often named for knot
Knot
A knot is a method of fastening or securing linear material such as rope by tying or interweaving. It may consist of a length of one or several segments of rope, string, webbing, twine, strap, or even chain interwoven such that the line can bind to itself or to some other object—the "load"...
s) for the U.S. Maritime Commission
United States Maritime Commission
The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and replaced the U.S. Shipping Board which had existed since World War I...
to transport matériel
Materiel
Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....
to the European
European Theatre of World War II
The European Theatre of World War II was a huge area of heavy fighting across Europe from Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 until the end of the war with the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945...
and Pacific Theatre
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
s.
The first ship was the SS James M. Wayne (named after James Moore Wayne
James Moore Wayne
James Moore Wayne was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and was a United States Representative from Georgia.-Biography:...
), whose keel was laid on July 6, 1942 and was launched on March 13, 1943. The last ship was the SS Coastal Ranger, whose keel was laid on June 7, 1945 and launched on August 25, 1945. The first six ships took 305 to 331 days each to complete, but soon production ramped up and most of the remaining ships were built in about two months, bringing the average down to 89 days each. By November 1943, about four ships were launched per month. The SS William F. Jerman was completed in only 34 days in November and December 1944. Six ships could be under construction in slipway
Slipway
A slipway, boat slip or just a slip, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats. They are also used for launching and retrieving small boats on trailers and flying boats on their undercarriage. The...
s at one time.
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
requested six ships from each shipyard. The workers guaranteed the delivery of not six, but seven ships. For the first eleven months of 1944, an average of 4.27 ships were launched per month. Up to this point the shipyard had never produced more than five ships in a calendar month, except for August 1944, in which six ships were launched. However, the first ship of August 1944 was launched on August 1 and the last one on August 31, and only three ships had been launched in July and only four ships were launched in September. So a ship that might well have been launched in July was actually launched on August 1. The workers fulfilled their promise of completing seven ships in December 1944 by working overtime, including working on Christmas Day
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
. Apart from the ships launched in December 1944, only one ship was completed in under 43 days. With the extra work, all of the ships launched this month were completed in 34 to 42 days (which included the SS William F. Jerman mentioned above).
Furthermore, the workers asked that they not be paid for their extra work. Each worker endorsed their time-and-a-half paycheck over to the government. They never produced more than five ships in a calendar month again, although a full five ships had been launched in the previous month of November and five more were launched the next month, January 1945. By March 1945 production of ships started to decline. The last ship launched was the SS Coastal Ranger, launched on August 25, 1945, shortly after the war ended.
Most of the Liberty ships from Brunswick were assigned to U.S. shipping companies and most of them were named after famous Americans (starting with U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
Justices from the South). However, numbers 19, 29, and 31–40 went to Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
(Ministry of War Transport
Department for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
) under the Supplemental Defense Appropriations Act of 1941 (see Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
) and were given one-word names starting with "Sam" (e.g. Samdee). Number 73 went to the Norwegian government
Politics of Norway
Politics in Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the King's council, the cabinet, led by the Prime Minister of Norway. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Storting, elected...
.
An iron cut-away scale model (approximately 1:20) of a Liberty ship had been built for employee training. Sometime after the end of World War II this was put on display in Brunswick at the end of F. J. Torras Causeway near the shipyards. It was not maintained, however, and after twenty years it rusted badly and was scrapped. In 1987, efforts began to build and display a new model. This 23 feet (7 m) scale model was unveiled on August 23, 1991 in Mary Ross Park. It is very similar to the original scale model except that it is not cut away to reveal the inner decks. A new park (called Liberty Ship Park) is currently under construction near the site of the original Sidney Lanier Bridge and the model is to be moved there.
1991 plane crash
An Atlantic Southeast AirlinesAtlantic Southeast Airlines
Atlantic Southeast Airlines is an American airline based in the A-Tech Center in College Park, Georgia, flying to 144 destinations as a Delta Connection carrier and, as of February 2010, commenced service as a United Express carrier. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of SkyWest, Inc. ASA operates...
Embraer
Embraer
Embraer S.A. is a Brazilian aerospace conglomerate that produces commercial, military, and executive aircraft and provides aeronautical services....
EMB 120 plane crashed in Brunswick on April 5, 1991 due to propeller
Propeller
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
control failure http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001212X16773&key=1 . The crash claimed the lives of all twenty-three people on board, including former U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
John Tower
John Tower
John Goodwin Tower was the first Republican United States senator from Texas since Reconstruction. He served from 1961 until his retirement in January 1985, after which time he was the chairman of the Reagan-appointed Tower Commission that investigated the Iran-Contra Affair. He was George H. W...
of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
Sonny Carter
Sonny Carter
Manley Lanier "Sonny" Carter, Jr. was an American physician, professional soccer player, naval officer, and NASA astronaut who flew on STS-33.-Early life:...
.
Modern-day
Hercules Inc.
Hercules, Inc., was a chemical and munitions manufacturing company based in Wilmington, Delaware, which was formed in 1912 as the Hercules Powder Company. Hercules was spun-off from the DuPont Corporation as a result of U.S. federal government actions in the field of antitrusts...
, one of the oldest and most important yellow-pine chemical plants in the world. Rich-SeaPak Corporation and King and Prince Seafood are also based in the area. The Georgia Ports Authority
Georgia Ports Authority
The Georgia Ports Authority is the administrative agency of the U.S. state of Georgia that oversees the development, maintenance and operation of two deepwater seaports and two inland ports in the state. The GPA was established in 1945 by State Ports Authority Act #422 and is currently...
Mayor's Point and Marine Point Terminals, as well as the Colonel's Island Bulk Facility attract business from around the world.
Brunswick's Old Town residential and commercial district is the largest small town, urban National Register of Historic Places district in Georgia. Downtown is undergoing a revitalization through the National Main Street Program, preserving and showcasing its distinctive historic structures. Annual events such as the Old Town Tour of Homes, Concerts in the Square, the Brunswick Stewbilee, and HarborFest encourage visitors to discover the charms of Brunswick's parks and gracious homes.
External links
- Historical markers in Glynn County
- Liberty ship marker and model
- Master list of Liberty ships
- History of Brunswick
- "Welcome Ships for Victory" Photograph collection at the Brunswick-Glynn County Library that depict World War II cargo ship building activities from 1943 to 1945.