Brunswick is a mainland city, which is worth saying because Georgia’s own tourism office has to say it too. It occupies a peninsula where the Brunswick, East and Turtle rivers come together, and it is the only incorporated city in Glynn County. That tourism office counts the Golden Isles as this city and four barrier islands: St. Simons, Sea Island, Little St. Simons and Jekyll. The causeway to St. Simons starts here, and St. Simons is where you cross to Sea Island or catch the boat to Little St. Simons.
The town was laid out early. The Royal Province of Georgia bought Plug Point and set it out in 1771, and the present city dates its incorporation to February 22, 1856, a reincorporation after an earlier charter was surrendered. That original grid survives as the Brunswick Old Town Historic District, along with nineteenth century houses and public buildings, and Old City Hall at 1229 Newcastle Street carries its Richardsonian Romanesque front into the middle of it. The Lover’s Oak stands at Prince and Albany streets.
The waterfront tells the other half of the story. Mary Ross Waterfront Park opens onto the East River at 100 F Street with the Liberty Ship Memorial Plaza, remembering the 99 wartime cargo ships built here, 85 of them Liberty ships and 14 smaller Knot ships.
The shipbuilding ended and the working harbor stayed. The Port of Brunswick is one of the country’s busiest for automobiles and heavy equipment, shrimping still works out of here, and Glynn County’s FY2024 report names the county Board of Education, Southeast Georgia Health System, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the county commission, Brunswick Cellulose, Rich Products and King and Prince Seafood among its principal employers.
A city with that much work in it stays lived in. The Census counted 15,210 residents and 6,546 housing units in 2020, and the estimate for July 2025 was 15,730, three percent above the count. Glynn County Schools serves the city.
Getting here is straightforward from several directions. I-95 exits 36 and 38 both bring you in, US 17 crosses the Brunswick River on the Sidney Lanier Bridge, the F. J. Torras Causeway runs out to St. Simons, and Brunswick Golden Isles Airport is the airport for the Golden Isles. North of the city, US 17 carries on to Darien and the Altamaha delta. Our Golden Isles office is at 1401 Union Street.
Sourced: the Golden Isles as Brunswick plus four barrier islands, Golden Isles Convention and Visitors Bureau and Georgia state tourism. 1771 founding and the 1856 reincorporation, City of Brunswick. Population and housing units, U.S. Census Bureau 2020 count and Vintage 2025 estimate. Landmarks and addresses, City of Brunswick. Historic district, National Park Service. Port, Georgia DOT. Shrimping, Georgia state tourism. Employers, Glynn County FY2024 financial report, which is countywide rather than city only. Highways and bridges, Georgia DOT.