Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Browns Valley

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Browns Valley

Browns Valley dates to 1867, and 49% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1880.

1867founded
0on the National Register
49%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
8famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Browns Valley’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Browns Valley began

When was Browns Valley founded?

1867

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

First census: 64 in 18802020 census: 558159 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1867.The full story ↓

What stands out about Browns Valley’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.Old housesHalf of Browns Valley’s homes were built before 1946.Famous sons and daughtersArthur E. Nelson, Charles M. Dale and 6 more were born here.
★ What stands out · People over time

Browns Valley, 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’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Browns Valley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Browns Valley.

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.

Famous people

8 famous people were born in Browns Valley

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Arthur E. NelsonAmerican politician · b. 1892
Charles M. DaleAmerican lawyer, 66th governor of New Hampshire · b. 1893
Charles BurnettSenior commander in the Royal Air Force · b. 1882
J
Jeff BackerAmerican politician · b. 1967
K
Kathy SkrochAmerican politician
Osborne CowlesAmerican college basketball coach · b. 1899
Timeline

Browns Valley, 1867 to 1985

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867
    FoundingBrowns Valley is established
  3. 1867Post officeThe Lake Traverse post office opens
  4. 1872Post officeThe Lake Traverse post office closes
  5. 1872Post officeThe Brown Valley post office opens
  6. 1882Born hereCharles Burnett is born here
  7. 1892Born hereArthur E. Nelson is born here
  8. 1893Born hereCharles M. Dale is born here
  9. 20th century
  10. 1939In the archiveOperating linotype machine. Office of the Valley News. Browns Valley, Minnesota
  11. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 1,117
  12. 1967Born hereJeff Backer is born here
  13. 1985On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Browns Valley, 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
Today8 recent
Business 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 on the map in 1985

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Browns Valley.

Browns Valley on the 1985 USGS map1985Wheaton sheet · 1:100,000

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.

Every building

Browns Valley, building by building, 1909–1919

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Browns Valley fire insurance map, 1909, sheet 11909Sheet 1 of 3
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

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

Lake Traverse
1867–1872
Brown Valley
1872–today
18601940today

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

Help out

Finish Browns Valley’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.
Retake 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.

Folsom Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrowns Valley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Browns Valley’s history

What year was Browns Valley founded?

In 1867, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Browns Valley’s post office opened in 1867, 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 (8), the Library of Congress (9), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.