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–Not graded
History · Brownsville Township

12% of Brownsville Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1956 on, and the census since 1870.

0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Brownsville Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1870 and 1930, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Brownsville Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brownsville Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Brownsville Township, census by census

010020030040050060070018801900192019401960198020002020625 in 1870Low: 274

Lost half of its people between 1870 and 1930, then more than doubled.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

The story

How Brownsville Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Brownsville Township.

Read it all →

A post office called Brownsville has been in operation since 1852. Brownsville was platted in 1854 by the brothers Job and Charles Brown, and named for them.

The village of Brownsville was destroyed by fire in October 1920. The loss was reported to be worth $75,000. The rail depot and eight other buildings were destroyed.

The weekly Brownsville News newspaper, established in June 1885, ceased publication in October 1920. It was issued with the Houston County Chief from November 1920 to April 1927 and with the Hokah Chief from April to July 1927.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Brownsville Township in 1919

Passages that mention Brownsville Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

District No. 68, Brownsville Township, was organized in 1867, and the first school was held in the pioneer home of Patrick Sweeney. The first trustees were Patrick Sweeney, James Daily and Jacob Sharrard. A schoolhouse was erected in 1867.
History of Houston County, Minnesota1919 · page 129Read the page →
Read the text

District No. 68, Brownsville Township, was organized in 1867, and the first school was held in the pioneer home of Patrick Sweeney. The first trustees were Patrick Sweeney, James Daily and Jacob Sharrard. A schoolhouse was erected in 1867.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Brownsville Township, 1818 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1818In the archiveBrownsville, Houston County, Minnesota
  3. 1856Post officeThe Hacketts Grove post office opens
  4. 1860Post officeThe Hacketts Grove post office closes
  5. 1870CensusPopulation peaks at 625
  6. 20th century
  7. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Brownsville Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1810s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1810s1 item
Brownsville, Houston County, Minnesota1818Brownsville, Houston County, MinnesotaDocument
Today4 recent
Railroad dump truck-22024Railroad dump truck-2Brownsville, Minnesota2023Brownsville, MinnesotaBrownsville, Minnesota aerial2023Brownsville, Minnesota aerialMNMap-doton-Brownsville2005MNMap-doton-Brownsville
On the map

Brownsville Township on the map, 1956 to 1980

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

Brownsville Township on the 1956 USGS mapBrownsville Township on the 1980 USGS map1956Brownsville 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 Brownsville Township.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Warner Post Lightbuilding
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Brownsville Township
Hackett's GroveNeumann FamilySaint Patricks

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Hokah Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMayville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUnion TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCrooked Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Brownsville Township’s history

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 (5), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.