Unwinding Hillary Square's long history

Jul. 17—Hillary Square's history extends to the beginning of the city of Brunswick, and it has changed substantially since the city's grid layout was drawn up in 1771.

The square, located at 1515 Norwich St., is named for Christopher Hillary, then a resident of Glynn County, per a plaque installed by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1922. Hillary would go on to serve as a soldier in the American Revolution and later represent Glynn County at a statewide convention in 1787 to consider the proposed U.S. Constitution. He made the initial motion for Georgia to adopt the Constitution.

The Constitution's wording was finalized in 1787, ratified and 1788 and went into effect in 1789.

In some instances, like the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps produced between 1885 and 1920, the little park is designated Kay Square or Hilary Place. Josh Dukes, a resident of the city's historic district who dabbles in researching the city's past, suggested the name might have simply been an error that went uncorrected for a time. In other documents, Hillary is alternatively spelled as Hilary and Hillery. But past issues of The News make no reference to a Kay Square.

"In some places, Hanover Square is called Hanover Park," said Julie Martin, with Signature Squares of Brunswick, a nonprofit dedicated to assisting the city to renovate and preserve historic squares. "It's almost whatever the flavor of the day was. It's almost as if, did somebody write them down as place or park or square or whatever was their whim."

Regardless of the name, the square once was twice the size, the second half on the other side of Norwich, similarly situated to Satilla, Frederica and Blythe squares on Norwich Street and St. Simons, Crispen, Jekyll and Machen squares on Newcastle Street.

In 1974, the city commission named the western half of the square Mary Ross Park, in honor of the late Mary Ross.

She was a Coastal Georgia native and expert on local history who passed away in 1971. While her contributions to coastal historical literature were substantial, the city ultimately chose to name that half of the square after he because she "had done so much to beautify the said area," The News reported.

But the western portion of the square is no longer in existence, and the name of Mary Ross is now assigned to the modern-day Mary Ross Waterfront Park, which was not so named until July 1989. City commissioners at the time evidently deemed economic development to be of more importance.

In 1978, the Brunswick City Commission traded the section of Hillary Square on the eastern side of Norwich Street away to Coastal Chevrolet, later Dan Vaden Chevrolet, so it could expand its sales lot, as reported by The News at the time. It did so "in return for land of like value within the city of Brunswick to be used for park purposes."

Without the deal, the car dealership would have moved to another location near the Glynn Place Mall, outside the city limits, commissioners claimed.

It was only a matter of time anyway, as the dealership is now located on the Altama Connector near the mall. A Safe Harbor children's shelter now stands on the former car lot.

That wasn't the only attempt by the city to divest a portion of the historic square from the city's founding.

City officials voted to ask the Georgia General Assembly to allow the city to give away the western half of Hillary Square to a group called the Women's Club of Brunswick in 1947 for "building purposes." A letter-writing campaign to The News' opinions page came swiftly, with residents landing on both sides of the issue.

In an editorial on Jan. 18, 1947, The News' editors expressed their appreciation for the Women's Club, but stated "We do oppose the move to acquire one of the city's public squares for such a purpose."

The city's actions in 1978 to trade away Hillary Square ignited opposition to future attempts to alter the historic square.

Local architects John Tuten and Larry Evans founded the Committee to Protect Old Town Brunswick's Parks and Squares to fight a request by St. Mark's Episcopal Church to move the western half of Blythe Square about 60 feet further to the south to make room for a playground adjacent to the park.

In a letter to the general public published in The News on Sept. 11, 1991, the group called on residents of the city to contact their city commissioners and the vestry of St. Mark's and encourage them to stop the deal.

"If this decision is allowed to stand, it is the beginning of the end of parks and squares, which are a part of the historic plan of Brunswick," the architects wrote. "... Based upon the same principle, the remaining half of Blythe Square should be available for use by the First (United) Methodist Church) or Dan Vaden Chevrolet; the remaining half of Hillary Square should be and is available to the U.S. Postal Service; Hanover Square is available to the Coca-Cola Bottling Company or to one of the adjacent automotive repair companies; Machen Square should be available S.H. Kress Company; resulting in a plan of public parks and squares patterned by the convenience of adjacent landowners."

Their efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, but modern historians Martin and Dukes share the architects' sentiment. Martin, a current Brunswick City Commissioner, called the decisions "shortsighted" acts that hurt the city's ability to connect to its origins.

"I think it's important to protect the integrity of the original colonial plan because we can look at that and tie it back to our history," said Dukes, also the vice chair of the city's Historic Preservation Board.

But what happened to the land the city received in exchange for the western half of Hillary Square? Per property records at the courthouse, the city received a parcel at the corner of R and Albany streets from the car dealership, now called Dr. David J. Griffin Memorial Park. On the same day as the land swap, Oct. 12, 1978, Griffin, a local physician who passed away in 1989, sold the same parcel to the car dealership for $10.

Griffin was the first Black physician to operate at the old Brunswick hospital, The News reported. Originally from Stewart County, Griffin served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He started his medical practice in Bainbridge after returning to the U.S., moving to Brunswick in 1960. At the time he passed away in 1989, he was still serving as medical examiner for Glynn County, a role he'd held for 23 years.

City officials held a ceremony in 2004 naming the park Dr. David J. Griffin Memorial Park.