How the McGarvey Sisters Saved Brunswick

This story originally ran in the January 2026 edition of Discover Downtown Brunswick, a publication of The Brunswick News, Brunswick, GA.  Josh Dukes is a local historian and chair of the Brunswick Historic Preservation Board. He is co-author of the book Brunswick: Past & Present, available at local retailers and online.

Brunswick's US Custom House and Post Office still stands today as Brunswick City Hall because of tireless work by preservationists like the McGarvey Sisters.

Cormac McGarvey stands above his sisters
Virginia (left), Margaret (right), and Mary (bottom)

In December 1963, a full-page advertisement appeared in The Brunswick News under a stark headline: “PLEASE HELP SAVE ME!” The voice speaking to readers was not a politician or civic group, but a building at 601 Gloucester Street—the former U.S. Custom House and Post Office. It described its copper details, steel joists, vaulted ceilings, and architectural pedigree, warning that once torn down it could never be replaced. The ad urged voters to act—and it worked.

Today, the building serves as Brunswick City Hall. Its survival was not accidental, nor did it truly “speak” for itself. It was given a voice and defended through sustained, deliberate advocacy by three sisters: Margaret, Virginia, and Mary McGarvey.

The McGarvey sisters were shaped by a family culture that valued permanence, responsibility, and public presence. Their father, Cormac Augustus McGarvey (1857–1930), was an Irish immigrant who founded C. McGarvey, Inc. in 1886. The furniture business operated for decades as one of Brunswick’s most established commercial institutions. Their mother, Carlotta Pauline Robinson McGarvey (1868–1939), was born in New York and married Cormac in 1889.  The couple raised four children in Brunswick; One son, Cormac, and three daughters—Virginia Mary McGarvey (b. 1893), Margaret Ann McGarvey (b. 1899), and Mary Pauline McGarvey (b. 1908).  All three sisters remained unmarried. Their obituaries and public records are clear about where their focus went: business leadership, cultural stewardship, and sustained civic engagement.

The Mahoney - McGarvey House on Reynolds Streets at the Historic Glynn County Courthouse as it looked when Virginia McGarvey inherited the home from the Mahoney family

As the eldest, Virginia McGarvey assumed responsibility early. Following her father’s death in 1930, she became president and manager of C. McGarvey, Inc., guiding the business through decades of economic change. A 1958 Brunswick News article, written as the firm prepared to leave its longtime Newcastle Street location, captured her values. She emphasized quality, durability, and tradition, and spoke plainly about her regret over the demolition of the Oglethorpe Hotel, calling it a loss that should never have been allowed. Her obituary later noted her steady, behind-the-scenes civic leadership, a style that would define the preservation efforts that followed.

Poet Margaret McGarvey, left, stands beside Ruby Berrie
on the front porch of The Oglethorpe Hotel in 1955
during filming for The View From Pompey's Head

Margaret McGarvey, the middle sister, became the family’s public voice. Educated locally and through correspondence study, she was widely published in poetry journals and recognized as one of Georgia’s best-known poets. Professionally, she worked for decades as secretary to the manager of the Hercules Powder Company while also serving as music and art critic for The Brunswick News. She held leadership roles in the Brunswick Community Concert Association and the Little Theatre of Brunswick.  Margaret’s most lasting contribution was her ability to articulate the consequences of neglect. In 1958, following the demolition of the Oglethorpe Hotel, she wrote an opinion piece criticizing the idea of progress divorced from memory. She contrasted Brunswick with Savannah, where preservation efforts had begun before buildings were lost. Her argument was not nostalgic but civic: cities that failed to protect their architectural inheritance risked losing their identity.  After Margaret’s death in 1962, Virginia and Mary ensured that her cultural legacy continued. For many years they sponsored the Allegro Poetry Contest in her memory, supporting student writers at Glynn Academy, including those who contributed to Driftwood, the school’s literary magazine.
 

Mary McGarvey, right, sits with  Angela Calhoun on the
porch of the Oglethorpe Hotel during the filming of
The View From Pompey's Head, June 1955

The youngest sister, Mary McGarvey, was known for persistence. Described in her obituary and later Brunswick News features as a community pillar, she combined quiet manners with firm resolve. Mary worked closely with Virginia on preservation efforts, served on civic boards, and maintained pressure when projects stalled. She was also active in St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church and numerous charitable organizations, reflecting a broader commitment to public service.
 
The sisters’ preservation ethic was not theoretical. The Mahoney–McGarvey House at 1705 Reynolds Street, built around 1891, embodied their approach. Designed by J. A. Wood, architect of the Oglethorpe Hotel, the house is widely regarded as Georgia’s finest example of Carpenter Gothic architecture. Willed to the sisters by the Mahoney family in 1949, it later housed their reorganized family business. At Virginia McGarvey’s death in 1986, the property was placed in trust with a requirement that it be preserved by future owners.
 
The building at the center of the sisters’ most consequential campaign rose on Gloucester Street as the U.S. Custom House and Post Office. Construction began in 1901, and the building opened in 1904. It served as Brunswick’s post office for half a century. The city purchased the building in 1951, and municipal offices later relocated there. By the early 1960s, however, proposals emerged that would have sold, altered, or potentially razed the structure.  Having witnessed the loss of the Oglethorpe Hotel just years earlier, the McGarvey sisters responded with a coordinated public campaign organized as the Committee for Preserving the Former Post Office as a Municipal Building. In December 1963, they placed the advertisement that allowed the building to speak for itself. The message combined architectural authority, economic logic, and civic responsibility, urging voters to preserve the building for public use.
 
The public voted yes. In 1964, The Brunswick News credited the McGarvey sisters with working tirelessly to save the building for municipal use and specifically calling out the recent loss of Margaret McGarvey and the influence of her earlier advocacy. Today, the building remains one of the most distinctive city halls in Georgia.
 
As noted at Mary McGarvey’s passing in 1999, the sisters did not seek recognition; they sought outcomes. When Brunswick lost the Oglethorpe Hotel, they did not retreat. They organized. Their work demonstrates how preservation begins—not with policy, but with citizens willing to act. Brunswick continues to live with the results.
 
Josh Dukes is a local historian and chair of the Brunswick Historic Preservation Board. He is co-author of the book Brunswick: Past & Present, available at local retailers and online.