This scenic byway begins at the intersection of N.C. 133 and Plantation Road
(S.R. 1529) near Southport and follows Plantation Road toward the Brunswick Town
State Historic Site. At just three miles it is one of the shortest in the state, but it is
steeped in history.
Shortly before the byway begins, N.C. 133 crosses Allen Creek, once known as
Lilliput Creek for the plantation at its headwaters. Granted to Eleazar Allen in 1725,
Lilliput Plantation was named for the imaginary country in Gulliver’s Travels.
Allen Creek joins the Cape Fear River near Orton Plantation. Orton Plantation, built
around 1725 by Roger Moore, overlooks the river on Orton Point. It was later owned by
Royal Gov. Benjamin Smith, who is buried nearby at St. Philips Anglican Church.
The byway passes Orton Pond, built in 1810. Alligators can sometimes be seen sun-
bathing near the road at this point. Turn left onto St. Phillips Road (S.R. 1533) and follow
it to Brunswick Town State Historic Site, where the byway ends.
The town, settled in 1725, was named for King George I, the Duke of Brunswick-
Lüneburg. It was one of North Carolina’s primary colonial ports, and the county seat
from 1764 to 1779. The site includes the ruins of St. Philips Anglican Church, completed
in 1768, and the Civil War bunkers of Fort Anderson.
Brunswick Town endured attacks by the Spanish in 1748, and Revolutionary and
Civil War battles. Resistance to the Stamp Act occurred in 1765 at the Russellborough
House, the ruins of which are located north of the Brunswick Town Site. Fort Anderson
was built here
during the Civil
War to help
protect the port
of Wilming-ton.
The fort
was evacuated
in 1865 after
a devastating
Union attack
that led to the
fall of Wilm-ington.
Another
battery, Fort
Lamb, was
located just
south on Price’s
Creek.
Top right: The
remains of St.
Philips Anglican
Church stand at
Brunswick Town
State Historic
Site. Bottom
right: Archaeol-ogists
have also
uncovered the
foundations of
colonial buildings
there.
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
Lake Waccamaw State Park and its
walking trails among towering pine
trees are worth a quick side trip from
the Green Swamp Byway.
WBM FILE PHOTO
WBM FILE PHOTO WBM FILE PHOTO
Brunswick Town ROAD
COURTESY OF NC WETLANDS
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