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Business district, Browns Valley, MN-02Photo: Heritage Preservation Department - MNHS · CC BY 4.0
–Not graded
History · Browns Valley Township

Browns Valley Township dates to 1867, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1880.

1867founded
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Browns Valley Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Browns Valley Township began

When was Browns Valley Township founded?

1867

Browns Valley Township dates its founding to 1867 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 64 in 18802020 census: 131159 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1879.The full story ↓

What stands out about Browns Valley Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Boom and bustPeaked at 1,117 in 1950; 558 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · People over time

Browns Valley Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,117

Peaked at 1,117 in 1950; 558 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Browns Valley Township’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Browns Valley Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Browns Valley Township.

Read it all →

Browns Valley was first settled in 1867 by Joseph R. Brown, and named for him. The settlement was platted in 1878. A post office was established in the community in 1867 under the name Lake Traverse. The post office was renamed Browns Valley in 1872. Two properties in the city are listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the 1864 Fort Wadsworth Agency and Scout Headquarters Building within Sam Brown Memorial State Wayside, and the 1916 Browns Valley Carnegie Library.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Browns Valley Township, 1867 to 1950

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867
    FoundingBrowns Valley Township is established
  3. 1879Post officeThe Hilo post office opens
  4. 1883Post officeThe Hilo post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1916On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1939In the archiveOperating linotype machine. Office of the Valley News. Browns Valley, Minnesota
  8. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 1,117
By decade

Browns Valley Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s9 items
Operating linotype machine. Office of the Valley News. Browns Valley, Minnesota1939Operating linotype machine. Office of the Valley News…Editor of the Valley News picking out type. Browns Valley, Minnesota1939Editor of the Valley News picking out type. Browns Va…Editor of the Valley News operating hand press. Browns Valley, Minnesota1939Editor of the Valley News operating hand press. Brown…Editor of the Valley News at her desk. Browns Valley, Minnesota1939Editor of the Valley News at her desk. Browns Valley,…Editor of the Valley News getting news by telephone. Browns Valley, Minnesota1939Editor of the Valley News getting news by telephone. …Editor of the Valley News inking column of type. Browns Valley, Minnesota1939Editor of the Valley News inking column of type. Brow…Setting up the front page. Office of the Valley News. Browns Valley, Minnesota1939Setting up the front page. Office of the Valley News.…Dusting off column of type. Office of the Valley News. Browns Valley, Minnesota1939Dusting off column of type. Office of the Valley News…Sawing lead blocks for making cuts. Office of the Valley News. Browns Valley, Minnesota1939Sawing lead blocks for making cuts. Office of the Val…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Joseph R. Brown House, Sam Brown Memorial Park (moved from Dakota Territory)Date?Joseph R. Brown House, Sam Brown Memorial Park (moved…
Today10 recent
St. Luke's Episcopal Church Museum2025St. Luke's Episcopal Church MuseumBusiness district, Browns Valley, MN-072025Business district, Browns Valley, MN-07Business district, Browns Valley, MN-062025Business district, Browns Valley, MN-06Business district, Browns Valley, MN-052025Business district, Browns Valley, MN-05Business district, Browns Valley, MN-042025Business district, Browns Valley, MN-04Business district, Browns Valley, MN-032025Business district, Browns Valley, MN-03Business district, Browns Valley, MN-022025Business district, Browns Valley, MN-02Business district, Browns Valley, MN-012025Business district, Browns Valley, MN-01Browns Valley, Minnesota2007Browns Valley, MinnesotaAmerican Legion Post of2007American Legion Post of
On the map

Browns Valley Township on the map, 1916 to 1974

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Browns Valley Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Browns Valley Township on the 1916 USGS mapBrowns Valley Township on the 1974 USGS map1916Beardsley sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Browns Valley Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Operating linotype machine. Office of the Valley News. Browns Valley, Minnesota
Retake this viewOperating linotype machine. Office of the Valley News. Browns Valley, Minnesota, 1939

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Browns Valley Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Hilo, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Bullock AirportairportFish Creek SchoolschoolHilo SchoolschoolKinney Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Browns Valley Township
BeardsleyMidwaySaint Mary

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Browns Valley Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewOperating linotype machine. Office of t…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Toqua TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrowns ValleyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFolsom Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townArthur Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFoster TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townParnell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Browns Valley Township’s history

What year was Browns Valley Township founded?

In 1867, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Browns Valley Township’s post office opened in 1879, and the census of 1880 counted 64 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (10), the Library of Congress (10), Wikidata (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.