Hanover Square History
Left: The fountain in Hanover Square, cir. 1890. Right: The restored Hanover Square fountain today.
Hanover Square is one of the two large squares in Old Town Brunswick that retains its original size and shape. It was named to honor Britain’s ruling House of Hanover
during the reign of King George II, when the Colony of Georgia was established. Initially, Hanover Square was the hub of official city and county business. The county courthouse, jail and stockyards were located in the square until the late 19th century.
As Brunswick grew and prospered, its citizens began to feel that the muddy, trampled stockyard and shabby wooden buildings did not represent an up-and-coming city properly. In 1882, the Ladies Park Association campaigned for the removal of the courthouse from Hanover Square and raised funds to purchase materials to beautify the area, which was referred to as “Hanover Park.” The city drilled a deep artesian well, topped with an ornate fountain, that yielded water rich with minerals that were thought to be therapeutic for certain diseases. When the projects were completed in 1885, the park’s title was returned to the city.
For decades, Hanover Square was the heart of public gatherings in the city. Church socials and concerts in the bandstand filled the evenings with laughter and music. The gardens were expanded and modified to reflect landscape tastes of each era. Brunswick’s residents stood guard over Hanover Square numerous times when transportation projects threatened the integrity and boundaries of the historic space.
In the mid-20th century, the city’s population growth trended northward and Hanover, like other original squares, fell into decline. As Signature Squares was organized to save the parks and squares within the Historic District of Brunswick, Hanover Square
became its first project. The fountain was replaced, walkways were rebuilt and the rose garden near the fountain was replanted. In the ensuing years since the major renovations were completed, work on the square continues. In addition to ongoing maintenance, large sections of historic fencing have been re-installed and additional tree canopy is now being filled in, offering shade and respite to its visitors.
Stockyard, Courthouse, Schoolhouse
Arriving at the Georgia Colony at Brunswick, settlers emerging from landing craft at the George Street docks got their first glimpse of the new city in Hanover Square. Far from a stately garden space, late-18th century travelers encountered a muddy, strictly utilitarian gathering place. The square was a multi-purpose area, containing stockyards and hitching posts and very little else.
THE ORIGINAL MULTI-USE COURTHOUSE IN HANOVER SQUARE. Courtesy William (Bill) Brown, Jr.
Brunswick’s beginnings were humble and halting. The city was deserted during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. A public improvement lottery was held in 1825 to raise $12,000 to be used for an Academy, a courthouse, Masonic Chapel and jail in Hanover Square. The drawing, held in Savannah, 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 it was moved in 1882.
Powerful Preservationists
In 1878, a citizen’s group, led by D.T. Dunn, a local businessman who would later become Mayor, made the first documented request to remove the courthouse from Hanover Square. Shortly after that time, the Ladies Park Association, led by Mr. Dunn’s wife, Mary, began to petition the City Council to move the city hall structure from Hanover Park, as it was called at the time. The ladies were tireless as they repeatedly appealed to the city, waged a letter-writing campaign in the local newspaper, raised money and undertook the work of reclaiming the park for the people of Brunswick. One major victory the organization enjoyed was convincing the city to install ironwork fencing to keep roaming livestock out of the park.
Their work was completed in 1884, and the city complemented the area’s new design by paving the roads around the park with oyster shells.
In six years, Hanover Square went from a filthy trampled stockyard with rickety wooden buildings to a garden spot destination and source of civic pride for Brunswick.
“Hanover Park” featured well-tended walking paths and a 3-tiered fountain at the turn of the 20th century. Signature Squares Archives.
A Treasure Worth Saving
By the late 1870s, mass transportation, in and between cities, was a major growth industry across the nation. Brunswick was no exception. There was money to be made if the city sold rights to electric train franchises and major rail lines which required the use of public property in and around the city. After such an extended period of difficulty and need, it is understandable that such decisions were seen as being in the best interests of the city.
In 1881, the City Council passed a resolution allowing the Macon and Brunswick Railroad to construct a rail line on George Street directly through Hanover Square. A storm of protest erupted, and citizens claimed that the square was, and always had been, a public garden space without intersecting roadways. The city attorney investigated, and in June 1881, the Commissioners passed a resolution revoking permission for the railroad to construct a right-of-way down George Street.
Challenges to the integrity of Hanover Square’s borders emerged several more times in the city’s history. In 1895, 1900 and 1952, attempts to allow trolley lines or major highway extensions to bisect Hanover Square have been defeated.
A city trolley passing by Queen Square took passengers along the north-south route of Newcastle Street, Brunswick’s main downtown business corridor. Courtesy Golden Isles Arts and Humanities Association.
The Landmark Fountain of Hanover Square
After the demolition of the Hanover Square wooden courthouse building in 1884, the city drilled an artesian well in that location. The new 313.5-foot deep well was gratifyingly productive, yielding 60 gallons per minute of cold, clean water. The official chemist for the state of Georgia tested the water and declared it extremely pure, with the properties of mineral water, “much prized for… certain classes of diseases.” His findings were posted on a sign adjacent to the fountain.
THE HANOVER ARTESIAN WELL WAS PRIZED FOR ITS HEALING PROPERTIES. Courtesy Golden Isles Arts & Humanities Association.
The new fountain provided clean drinking water for local citizens and created a tourist attraction for health-conscious travelers. A popular practice in the late 19th-century, called “taking the waters,” brought many people to Brunswick to drink Hanover fountain’s therapeutic natural mineral water. Whether the health of the visitors was improved is unclear; however, the economic health of Brunswick benefited considerably.
The fountain became an unofficial barometer of the city’s fortunes. In times of prosperity, the fountain flowed freely and was maintained regularly. When hardship fell on the city, the Parks Keeper position was removed from the budget and the fountain would run dry due to lack of care.
SIGNATURE SQUARES' FOUNDER, JULIE MARTIN, WITH THE BOTTOM BOWL FROM THE ORIGINAL HANOVER SQUARE FOUNTAIN. Courtesy Jerry Spencer.
DEDICATION OF THE NEW FOUNTAIN, JULY 4, 2006. Courtesy Patrick Saylor.
SEE THE RENOVATION GALLERY
When Signature Squares of Brunswick took on its inaugural project of restoring the fountain area of Hanover Square, several pieces of the fountain were missing. The entire assembly was removed down to the ground, and a replacement in the original style was installed. The base bowl of the old fountain was saved and repurposed as the basin of the new Jekyll Square West
fountain.
A classic Tall Crane design was chosen to most closely reflect the original 1884 fountain.
An Evolving Garden
The garden design and plant materials used in Hanover Square reflected the popular styles of each era, as well as the infrastructure that was afforded by city budgets. After black iron fencing was installed to keep out wandering livestock, it was safe to add lush ornamental plants to border walkways and surround the fountain.
Large, showy plants such as crinum lilies were favorites of Victorian gardeners, and rose varieties for the garden around the fountain were carefully selected to thrive in the semi-tropical coastal climate. A wooden bandstand, visible in vintage postcards, was the site of many performances from local and visiting musicians, bond rallies in wartime and other gatherings.
The Memorial Association petitioned the city to move the park's bandstand closer to the perimeter of the square, away from the location of a monument that was erected on April 26, 1902.
LUSH TROPICAL PLANTS SUCH AS CRINUM LILIES WERE A VICTORIAN ERA FAVORITE AND ARE STILL USED TODAY THROUGHOUT BRUNSWICK'S HISTORIC SQUARES. Courtesy Downtown Development Authority.
EXPLORE THE GOOGLE STREET VIEW MAP.
The Portuguese Community in Brunswick
Shortly after the end of World War I, immigrants from Portugal arrived in Brunswick and settled around and near Hanover Square. The newcomers were experienced fishermen with generations of knowledge of the sea. They quickly devised innovations in boat design and equipment that allowed them to revolutionize the harvest of shrimp from warm coastal waters. A specialty seafood industry grew from those developments, providing employment and economic prosperity for thousands of people in Coastal Georgia.
PORTUGUESE IMMIGRANT INNOVATION REVOLUTIONIZED THE FISHING INDUSTRY IN COASTAL GEORGIA. Courtesy Theresa Martin.
Hanover’s location offered many advantages to Portuguese families: the adjacent Catholic Church, nearby shops, proximity to the docks and an ideal place to gather in the park to socialize after a hard day’s work on the ocean.
The local Blessing of the Fleet
is derived from Portugal’s Lady Fatima observances. Local Knights of Columbus members lead a solemn procession through Hanover Square, carrying the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, on the Sunday closest to May 13 each year.
Our Lady of Fatima PROCESSION. THIS TRADITION IS STILL OBSERVED TODAY. Courtesy Golden Isles Arts & Humanities Association.
The Catholic Church
St. Francis Catholic Church
has been located adjacent to Hanover Square since its first building was completed in 1890. The original structure was replaced by a modern structure and school facility in 1960.
ST. FRANCIS CATHOLIC CHURCH PRIOR TO 1960. Courtesy of Downtown Development Authority collection.
ST. FRANCIS XAVIER CATHOLIC CHURCH ALTAR PRIOR TO MODERNIZATION. Courtesy of Downtown Development Authority collection.
Hanover Square in World War II
In the early days of World War II, shipyards in Brunswick jumped into production of urgently needed emergency cargo vessels called Liberty Ships. Within weeks, the population of the city quadrupled, causing a housing shortage that quickly reached a crisis stage.
Shipyard workers, some perched on rooftops and awnings, eagerly await the launch of a Liberty ship at the J.A. Jones Shipyards. Courtesy of Bill Tipton.
A shift change at Brunswick’s shipyards , where operations ran 24/7. Courtesy of Bill Tipton.
The Samlorian, one of the ships built for the British, well underway in 1944 at the Jones yards. Courtesy of Bill Tipton.
Although there was a law on the books that strictly prohibited sleeping in the parks and squares of Brunswick, city fathers made an exception in Hanover Square. The spacious, tree-lined green space offered fresh water from its fountain, and a safe place to sleep at night. As they waited for the completion of hastily built war apartments, many shipyard workers slept on the ground in Hanover Square and drew buckets of water from the fountain in the morning to wash up before their next shift. After the housing dilemma was resolved, patriotic concerts and community rallies were held in Hanover Square.
SEE THE RENOVATION GALLERY
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Squares History
