A pre-Revolutionary port, Brunswick was destroyed by the British in 1776 and never rebuilt. The town was named Brunswick to honor George I, the king of England, who was a native of Brunswick, Germany. The port became a bustling shipping area for exporting tar, pitch, and turpentine, important resources for ship-building.
Brunswick was a political center of the region and the colonial assembly occasionally met in the courthouse. Official port functions required merchants to pay taxes and shipping costs to the local representatives of the Crown. In 1765 the colonists challenged the Crown's authority to distribute hated tax stamps. That action halted the collection of the tax along the Cape Fear eight years before the Boston Tea Party.
In 1776, the Royal Navy ship "Cruizer" landed and drove the population out, reducing the town ashes.
Then, during the Civil War, Fort Anderson was constructed on part of the village site as a means of protecting the Cape Fear River.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, archaeologists uncovered foundations from Brunswick's earliest days. The most visible structure is the hulk of St. Philip's Anglican Church with its surviving walls dating back to 1754. Another interesting foundation is Russellborough, an old sea captain's house that was used by royal governors Tryon and Dobbs.
Related Sites and Sources
