Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site in Southport is currently open to visitors, with regular events and programming scheduled to resume in the spring. The site’s visitors center, which sustained damage during Hurricane Florence, remains closed until repairs to the building can be completed.
“The site is currently open for visitors, and our staff and volunteers are available to talk to guests and interpret the site,” says Site Manager Jim McKee. “Once warmer weather arrives, we will resume outdoor programming and events, but there are still lots of things to see at Brunswick Town this time of year.”
A major pre-Revolutionary port on North Carolina's Cape Fear River, Brunswick was partially burned by British troops in 1776 and never fully recovered. During the Civil War, Fort Anderson was constructed atop part of the ruins of the town and served as part of the Cape Fear River defenses below Wilmington before the fall of the Confederacy. Colonial foundations dot the present-day tour trail, which crosses the earthworks of the Confederate fort.
Today, visitors to the site can see the archaeological ruins of the foundations of the colonial kitchens, home sites and various outbuildings that once stood as a colonial port town, along with the shell of St. Philip’s Anglican Church.
Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site is administered by the Division of State Historic Sites in the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.