Glynn County, Georgia

Glynn County is located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 84,499.^[1] The county seat is Brunswick.^[2] Glynn County is part of the Brunswick, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Glynn County, one of the state's original eight counties created on February 5, 1777, was named after John Glynn,^[3] a member of the British House of Commons who defended the cause of the American Colonies before the American Revolution. The Battle of Bloody Marsh was fought in Glynn County. James Oglethorpe built Fort Frederica, which was used a base in the American Revolutionary War. Glynn Academy, established to educate boys, is the second oldest school in Georgia.

Glynn County includes the most prominent of the Sea Islands of Georgia, including Jekyll Island, St. Simons Island, and Sea Island. The Georgia poet Sidney Lanier immortalized the seacoast there in his poem, "The Marshes of Glynn", which begins:

Glooms of the live-oaks, beautiful-braided and woven

With intricate shades of the vines that myriad-cloven

Clamber the forks of the multiform boughs,--

Emerald twilights,--

Virginal shy lights,

Wrought of the leaves to allure to the whisper of vows,

When lovers pace timidly down through the green colonnades

Of the dim sweet woods, of the dear dark woods,

Of the heavenly woods and glades,

That run to the radiant marginal sand-beach within

The wide sea-marshes of Glynn;--

During World War II, Naval Air Station Glynco, named for the county, was a major base for training for blimps and anti-submarine warfare. The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) now uses a substantial part of the former NAS as its main campus.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 585 square miles (1,520 km²), of which 420 square miles (1,100 km²) is land and 165 square miles (430 km²) (28.3%) is water.^[4]

The majority of Glynn County is located in the Cumberland-St. Simons sub-basin of the St. Marys- Satilla River basin. Most of the county's northern and northwestern border area is located in the Altamaha River sub-basin of the basin by the same name.^[5]

• McIntosh County - north
• Camden County - southwest
• Brantley County - west
• Wayne County - northwest

• Brunswick

• Country Club Estates
• Dock Junction
• Everett
• Jekyll Island
• St. Simons
• Sterling

• Altamaha Park
• Anguilla
• Jamaica
• Jewtown
• Zuta

• Belle Vista
• Bladen
• Thalmann^[6]

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 84,499, 34,339 households, and 22,352 families residing in the county.^[18] The median age was 43.7 years; 21.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 22.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older.^[18]

For every 100 females there were 88.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 85.3 males age 18 and over.^[18] 81.4% of residents lived in urban areas, while 18.6% lived in rural areas.^[19]

The racial makeup of the county was 64.2% White, 24.5% Black or African American, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 3.7% from some other race, and 5.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 7.5% of the population.^[20]

There were 34,339 households in the county, of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 32.6% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 28.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.^[18]

There were 42,156 housing units, of which 18.5% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 63.5% were owner-occupied and 36.5% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.3% and the rental vacancy rate was 12.2%.^[18]

In terms of European ancestry, 40.8% were English, 10.6% were "American", 10.2% were Irish, and 7.9% were German.^[21]

Glynn County's public schools are operated by Glynn County School System.

Glynn County is home to four Superfund sites. Those include the "LCP Chemicals Georgia" site,^[22] the "Brunswick Wood Preserving" site,^[23] the "Hercules 009 Landfill" site,^[24] and the "Terry Creek Dredge Spoil Areas/Hercules Outfall" site.^[25]

The Hanlin Group, Inc., which maintained a facility named "LCP Chemicals" in Glynn County just outside the corporate limits of Brunswick, was convicted of dumping 150 tons of mercury into Purvis Creek, a tributary of the Turtle River and surrounding tidal marshes between the mid-1980s and its closure in 1994. Three executives were sentenced to prison time over the incident.^[26]

The LCP facility had been declared a Superfund site when it closed in 1994. It had been under scrutiny by the EPA after Service biologists discovered mercury poisoning in endangered wood storks on St. Simons Island. Fish, shellfish, crabs, and shrimps taken in coastal waters, as well as other bird species, also contained the toxic metal. The Service traced the source of the contamination to the LCP plant and documented the extent of the damage to wildlife resources. Their effort resulted in the addition of Endangered Species Act charges to those that would be brought against Hanlin and its officers.^[27]

In 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation ranked the Brunswick metropolitan area (which includes the counties of Glynn, Brantley and McIntosh) as the 7th most dangerous metropolitan area in the state of Georgia.^[28]

On August 29, 2009, Glynn County resident Guy Heinze Jr. murdered eight members of his extended family including his father, Guy Heinze Sr. in the family's trailer located in New Hope Plantation Mobile Home Park near Brunswick. Two others were critically injured, with one dying later in a hospital in Savannah. Heinze Jr. avoided the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison without parole on October 30, 2013.^[29]

As of the 2020s, Glynn County is a Republican stronghold, voting 64.5% for Donald Trump in 2024. Similar to Southeast Georgia, Glynn County is heavily Republican, having last voted Democratic in 1980, when the Democratic nominee was Georgia native Jimmy Carter. Democratic strength is concentrated in Brunswick, while the rural parts of Glynn County lean more Republican.

For elections to the United States House of Representatives, Glynn County is part of Georgia's 1st congressional district, currently represented by Buddy Carter. For elections to the Georgia State Senate, Glynn County is part of District 3.^[30] For elections to the Georgia House of Representatives, Glynn County is covered by districts 167, 179 and 180.^[31]

• Glynn County Police Department
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Glynn County, Georgia
• List of counties in Georgia

• Glynn County
• GlynnCounty.com
• Coastal Georgia in Photographs and much more
• Sherpa Guide
• Glynn County historical marker
• Emanuel United Methodist Church historical marker
• Needwood Baptist Church and Needwood School historical marker

31°13′N 81°29′W / 31.22°N 81.49°W / 31.22; -81.49