Bradwell Institute
Hinesville, Liberty County, Georgia
Marker Inscription
Bradwell Institute. The town of Hinesville was established in 1837 and shortly thereafter, in 1841, the Hinesville Institute (or Academy) was established with Colonel James Sharpe Bradwell as its first headmaster. The first building was erected at a cost of $349.12-1/2 and stood on the Courthouse Square where Bradwell Park is now located. Hinesville Institute was closed during the War Between the States, but was reorganized and reopened in 1871 by Captain Samuel Dowse Bradwell, C.S.A., son of James Sharpe Bradwell. The name Bradwell Institute was given the reorganized school honoring Colonel Bradwell, the first headmaster of the Hinesville Institute. Bradwell Institute was at first a boarding school and college prepatory, offering courses in Latin, Greek, chemistry, and "other useful and practical sciences." At the turn of the twentieth century the school became a part of the public school system and was for many years the only high school in this section of Georgia, drawing students from surrounding counties. Erected 1998 by the Liberty County Historical Society
Erected by Liberty County Historical Society
The Story
Bradwell Institute traces to 1841, when the newly settled town of Hinesville established an academy under headmaster Colonel James Sharpe Bradwell, its first building raised on the courthouse square for the precise sum of $349.12½. Closed during the Civil War, the school was reopened in 1871 by his son, Captain Samuel Dowse Bradwell, and renamed in the elder Bradwell's honor. A classical boarding and college-preparatory school teaching Latin, Greek, and the sciences, it later became the only high school serving this stretch of coastal Georgia.
Why it matters
It illustrates the reach of private academies in the 19th-century South and their gradual absorption into the public school system that broadened education across rural America.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Colonel James Sharpe Bradwell
- · Captain Samuel Dowse Bradwell
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Bradwell Park 1974
Hinesville, GA
In 1871, during the years of rebuilding after the Civil War, Bradwell Institute was founded on this site — one of many local academies that carried formal schooling into communities across the postwar South. The park here remembers Samuel Dowse Bradwell, the institute's founder, whose name the school still carries in Liberty County today. A century later the memorial park itself was built with federal assistance, layering a modern civic project over the town's educational roots.
Bellville
Bellville, GA
Bellville was founded in 1890 on land platted beside the newly laid tracks of the Savannah & Western Railroad and named for pioneer Frances Bell Smith. Its depot quickly became the town's commercial and social center, and Bellville grew into a regional shipping point for cotton, naval stores, and lumber, home as well to the Bellville Academy.
John Wesley
Chatham County, GA
In February 1736, John Wesley—later the founder of Methodism—landed near here on what is now Cockspur Island and preached his first sermon on American soil to his fellow voyagers. Sent by the colony's Trustees as a missionary and serving as the third minister of the Established Church in Georgia, he traveled by boat and over Indian trails to reach scattered frontier settlements. After conflicts with his parishioners, he returned to England in 1737, his American mission cut short.
Candler County
Metter, GA
Candler County was created in 1914 from parts of Bulloch, Emanuel, and Tattnall Counties and named for Governor Allen D. Candler (1834–1910). Candler is remembered for preserving and first compiling Georgia's colonial and Confederate records, an early act of state historical stewardship. The marker also lists the new county's first officers.