The Journey to Glynn County's Historic Courthouse

This story originally appeared in the December 2023 issue of Discover Downtown Brunswick, a publication of The Brunswick News and has been edited slightly. Article by Josh Dukes.

The holiday season is finally here and lights are going up all over town.  Our current City Hall on Gloucester and Old City Hall on Newcastle both have beautiful lighting that was added in the last few years - we keep hoping this look will expand to the Ritz Theater and other city holdings in the coming years.  In Hanover Square, sparkling lights trace the brick plaza at the center where the multi-tiered fountain creates a serine oasis for parkgoers.  This public space once served a different purpose, housing Glynn County’s original courthouse.  Many of us know about Glynn County’s Historic Courthouse just north of Gloucester on Union Street, but the full history of Brunswick’s courthouses goes much further back than that single structure.  The journey to realize this building was a long road.

The Courthouse at Hanover Square
Masonic Lodge upstairs

Glynn County was one of the state's original eight counties created on February 5, 1777.  It was named after John Glynn, a member of the British House of Commons who defended the cause of the American Colonies before the American Revolution.  The Georgia Constitution of 1777 provided that "A court-house and jail shall be erected at the public expense in each county, where the present [constitutional] convention or the future legislature shall point out and direct." Its unclear if this was implemented at the time as war continued to rage. 

From the post-revolutionary period well into the 1820s, several attempts to fund and build a courthouse were unsuccessful.  A public improvement lottery was held in 1825 to raise $12,000 to be used for a schoolhouse, a courthouse, Masonic Chapel and jail in Hanover Square. The drawing was held in Savannah and apparently yielded enough funds to accomplish the construction of the 2-story structure that was located in the center of the square. 

From 1837-1839, Glynn Academy classes were held in the Hanover Square courthouse while their new school building was under construction. The ground floor was used as a jail and to conduct city and county business. The Masons leased the top story of the building until they moved into their new hall at Jekyll Square in 1882. This newer masonic building later became Ned Cash Jewelers. The original Glynn Academy building, still on the school’s campus, was very similar in structure to the original courthouse and masonic lodge. The next time you swing by, imagine a similar structure still standing at the center of Hanover Square! 

The Courthouse at Hanover Square, 1837

The courthouse appears in Hanover Square on the Brunswick Map of 1837, but apparently it quickly because less than satisfactory. In December 1845, the legislature acted to allow Glynn County courts to meet "in the new academy building in the town of Brunswick, instead of the court-house." An act of Dec. 1849 allowed Glynn County's inferior court and the court of ordinary to meet in the county clerk's office "instead of the Court-house." The 1889 Sanborn Map shows the courthouse at the clerk’s office in the SE quadrant of Queen Square in a 2-story wood building.  Old City Hall was completed across the street in 1892, which was fortunate timing. A windstorm in September 1896 severely damaged the old clerk’s office and courthouse.  Because City Hall had space for court proceedings on the 2nd floor, court offices moved across the street and leased space from the city.  

Court was temporarily held at the Oglethorpe
Bank building on Newcastle Street

Plans were underway as early as 1897 for a new courthouse as county commission members visited the new courthouse in Charlotte, NC.  This building, designed by Frank Milburn, was to be the blueprint for the new courthouse in Brunswick.  Unfortunately, bonds were not secured and this plan fell through.  A tax was enacted in October 1897 to raise funds for courthouse construction, though the process continued to drag.

For a time, the court was located on the 3rd floor of the Oglethorpe Bank Building at 1419 Newcastle Street.  The Brunswick News noted that this wasn't a great setup - the court was on the 3rd floor, which forced the elderly and disabled to climb the stairs as there was no elevator.  Plans were finally put in place and the new building was constructed from 1906 to 1907 from a design by architect Charles Alling Gifford.  Gifford had previously designed much of the Jekyll Island Club.  The building was laid out in a cross-like shape similar to Southern Neoclassical Revival courthouses, but was primarily influenced by American Renaissance Revival architecture. This building was renovated over the decades and remained in use until 1991, when a new expanded courthouse complex was completed next door. The historic courthouse building had many of its original features restored and is still used today for many court functions.  

Courthouse dedication, 1907

Glynn County’s historic courthouse was completed during 1907’s holiday season and opened to the public for the first time on January 1st, just in time to ring in the new year of 1908. Today, the courthouse is not lined with lights for the holidays like our 2 city halls, but I’ll add this to the list of buildings that deserve a holiday glow-up.  After all the work that went into finally building a handsome architectural masterpiece for Glynn County, I’d love to see it receive the love and attention it deserves.