The story
Read it all →How Brown Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Brown Township.
Brown Township was organized in 1833. It was named for Prior Brown, a pioneer settler.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Brown Township
30% of Brown Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #225 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: maps from 1953 on.
1on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
Where Brown Township’s name came from
How did Brown Township get its name?
Brown Township was named for Prior Brown, a pioneer settler.
How historic is Brown Township?
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What drives the grade ↓More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Brown Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brown Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #225 of 593 in Indiana. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Brown Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194030.4% of homes (±6.3) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 4.0 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 80%
NewerOlder
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 62%
Indiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Indiana town has 7.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Brown Township’s 4.0 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.3 points).
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Brown Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Brown Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brown Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Another post office, Warrington, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Warrington
Willow Branch
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
NashvilleWarringtonWillow Branch
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Brown Township
HaysLizz TownMcCrayReeves
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Brown Township, 1849 to 1953
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Brown Township on the map, 1953 to 1966
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brown Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1953Pendleton sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Brown Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Brown Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Brown Township
Nobody well known was born in Brown Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Brown Township’s history
How does Brown Township rank for history?
Brown Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #225 of 593 in Indiana. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Brown Township?
30% of Brown Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1965.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.