This article first appeared in Discover Downtown Brunswick, a publication of The Brunswick News, published in Brunswick, Georgia. Story and photo restorations by Josh Dukes
A new year is upon us again and there’s a vibrant pulse of redevelopment coursing through the veins of Brunswick's historic downtown core along Newcastle and Gloucester Streets. The city is practically crackling with energy these days, and I'm soaking in every electrifying moment. As a historian it's impossible not to acknowledge that this dance of business development has played out many times before—a thrilling symphony of highs and lows in a place we all know is perpetually full of promise. As we leaf through the chapters of history, there's one standout character who leaps off the pages—a visionary who poured his heart and soul into a fledgling Brunswick.
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| Urbanus Dart |
Urbanus Dart, Sr. was one of Brunswick’s pioneer citizens from its earliest days of development. He was born in 1800 to Cyrus and Ann Harris Dart at Coleraine, a frontier station on the St. Marys River where his father was stationed at end of the 18th century. Urbanus and his siblings spent much of their youth on Cumberland Island. While his mother Ann was from Glynn County, his father Cyrus Dart was from Haddam, CT. The elder Dart was a physician who also served as a surgeon in the Revolution and the War of 1812. According to an 1889 biography of his grandson Jacob Dart, Cyrus was intimately acquainted with General George Washington. He was appointed Quarantine Officer of the Port of Brunswick after he left the military. One day in 1817, Cyrus and Urbanus Dart were rowed out into the harbor by an enslaved oarsmen to inspect a vessel coming to port. The trip was to be a routine inspection when tragedy struck. The small boat, jostled by rough seas, suddenly capsized. Both Cyrus Dart and the oarsman were drowned in the accident. Miraculously, Urbanus was able to save himself by swimming to shore. His father's body was never recovered. The 1820s saw Urbanus Dart investing heavily in Brunswick and Glynn County. In 1826, Dart and William B. Davis were granted a charter for the Brunswick Canal and Railroad Company. This charter was for the construction of a canal, railroad, or both to run from Brunswick’s port at the Turtle River to the Altamaha River. Similar charters were granted around this time in Charleston and Savannah. The charter was amended several times and attempts were made over several years to raise the funds through bonds or stocks in the company. Dart argued in an 1831 letter that such a railroad would allow cotton shipments from Macon and Milledgeville to reach Brunswick 40 days faster than a journey to Savannah. Unfortunately, the early railroad project never got off the ground. The canal venture would eventually be realized as the Brunswick-Altamaha Canal, but Dart’s stake in the project never came to fruition and the canal was not completed until much later.
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| Jake Dart also served in the state assembly |
In 1836, Dart married Elizabeth “Eliza” Rebecca Moore (1815-1889), also of Glynn County. Their children were Horace, Frank, Urbanus Jr, Sara, Jake, William Robert, John, and Eliza. Brunswick was first incorporated in 1838, and Urbanus was elected to the first city council along with John Franklin, Andrew L. King, Charles Davis, James Moore, Henry A. Breed, and George Harrington. The following year, Dart was instrumental in the realization of a new Glynn Academy building at Hillsboro Square. This is the same historic Glynn Academy building that still stands at the school campus today. He was the 3rd mayor of Brunswick from 1841-1843 and twice in the legislature – 1838-1840 and 1865-1866. At the time of Dart’s first legislative appointment, the state capital was at Milledgeville. The journey from Brunswick was so treacherous that he took great care to prepare his last will and testament, saw that his gunpowder was dry and his pistols were in order, and gave the Dart family his blessing as he rode off on his horse. The journey took 15 tedious days. The highs and lows of real estate ventures carried Dart through the 1840s and ‘50s. He and his sons built and operated a sawmill on Saint Simons where the Sea Island Yacht Club later stood. The mill was eventually sold to the Dodge family. In 1874, this mill provided timbers used in the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. He generously donated land for the construction of the First United Methodist Church, whose first building was completed in 1861, and later the First Presbyterian Church (dedicated in 1873).
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William Robert Dart built the Dart House on
Glynn Avenue in 1877 |
Jacob Edgar “Jake” Dart followed in his father’s footsteps and served Georgia in the legislature. As a young man, Jake befriended Sidney Lanier during one of his visits to Brunswick and sat with him under Lanier’s Oak on Lanier’s first visit to the tree. The location was not far from the old Dart House on Glynn Avenue. William Robert Dart had that home built in 1877 and it looked out toward Lanier’s Oak.
When Urbanus Dart passed away in 1883, he was credited as Brunswick’s oldest citizen and one of the pioneers of the city. The following year sons Horace, William, and John Dart christened a new tugboat the "Urbanus Dart" in memory of their father. Dart’s legacy was a beacon of continuity for generations to come—a testament to the enduring spirit of Brunswick's pioneer citizen. I can only hope that today’s exciting ventures – in 2024 and beyond - will continue to build on such a legacy.
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| Tugboat Urbanus Dart |
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