{"nrhp_refnum":"78001932","name":"Brunswick Town Historic District","other_names":["Old Brunswick","Fort Anderson,Brunswick Town State Historic Si"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"N of Southport off SR 133","address_restricted":false,"city":"Southport","county":"Brunswick County","state":"NC","lat":34.04063849800005,"lon":-77.94436600660035,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-09-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Historic - Non-Aboriginal","Military","Exploration/Settlement","Science","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A roughly 120-acre archeological historic district on the west bank of the Cape Fear River, about ten miles north of Southport, Brunswick County, North Carolina. It holds the ruins of colonial Brunswick Town and the Civil War earthworks of Fort Anderson, and is operated as a state historic site.","why_significant":"The district preserves the foundations of a colonial port town that was an influential center in North Carolina and the site of early armed resistance to the Stamp Act in 1765. The town was burned in 1776 and later became the site of Confederate Fort Anderson. Archeological excavation from 1958 to 1968 recovered a detailed picture of colonial life and Civil War occupation.","narrative":"Brunswick Town Historic District covers about 120 acres along the Cape Fear River in Brunswick County, North Carolina. It contains the ruins of a colonial port town and the earthworks of Civil War Fort Anderson. Founded in the early 1700s, Brunswick was home to merchants, sea captains and officials, and in 1765 a group of citizens surrounded Governor Tryon's house at Russellborough to protest the Stamp Act, an early use of arms against British authority. The town declined as Wilmington grew and was burned during the British raid of 1776. In 1862 Confederate forces built Fort Anderson on the site, incorporating the walls of St. Philips Church, and abandoned it in February 1865. Archeologist Stanley South excavated about 25 of 65 foundations between 1958 and 1968, including houses, a public house, wells and a smokehouse. Visitors walk trails past the ruins, the pond, the batteries and the church.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the state and open to the public as a museum and park; the site is in ruins, with excavated foundations protected by fences and St. Philips Church walls still standing.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:56.976175-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/99/7190/47719099/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/78001932.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001932/f6c85c3950-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001932/f6c85c3950-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"BTFA1726","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Philips.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">BTFA1726</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Philips.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"13000698","name":"Orton Plantation (Boundary Increase)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/orton-plantation-boundary-increase-13000698/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719099","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunswick_Town_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4979555"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/brunswick-county/brunswick-town-historic-district-78001932/"}