Brunswick Town was founded in July 1726 by Maurice Moore with the help of his brother Roger, owner of the nearby Orton Plantation. The two men were sons of South Carolina colonial governor James Moore and grandsons of Irish nobleman Rory Moore. Maurice, a future colonial governor and father of Supreme Court Associate Justice Alfred Moore, named the town after Brunswick-Luneburg, the German territory ruled by Great Britain's reigning King George I. During the next few months, Brunswick Town grew rapidly and became a busy port for exporting forest products used for the Royal Navy and merchant ships, tar, pitch, and turpentine. When the village of Newton, now known as Wilmington, was founded in 1733, the two towns jointly formed the Port of Brunswick.
During the 1730s, Brunswick Town became the political center of Southeastern North Carolina and seat of New Hanover County. In March 1731, George Burrington - the first royal governor of North Carolina - moved to Brunswick, and the town became the official port of entry for the Cape Fear River. Over the next few decades the Port of Brunswick became the busiest port district in North Carolina, and shipped goods to Europe and the British West Indies. The growing city of Wilmington began to overtake Brunswick in terms of commerce, and eventually accounted for
