Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Browns Point

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 Point

21% of Browns Point’s homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2 buildings. Below: maps from 1949 on.

1on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Browns Point’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Browns Point are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Browns Point’s homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Browns Point’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Browns Point’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
The story

How Browns Point came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Browns Point.

Read it all →

Originally named Point Harris, after Alvin Harris, a sailmaker on the Wilkes Expedition, Browns Point was later renamed by residents for an early landowner.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Browns Point, decade by decade

Today6 recent
BPIC 39682026BPIC 3968BPIC 39552026BPIC 3955Browns Pt 41822025Browns Pt 4182BP Diner 41842025BP Diner 4184BP Diner 41832025BP Diner 4183BP Diner 41802025BP Diner 4180
On the map

Browns Point on the map, 1949 to 1994

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

Browns Point on the 1949 USGS mapBrowns Point on the 1961 USGS mapBrowns Point on the 1973 USGS mapBrowns Point on the 1981 USGS mapBrowns Point on the 1994 USGS map1949Tacoma North sheet · 1:24,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Browns Point

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1989
Browns Point Lighthouse and Keeper's Cottage
Browns Point Lighthouse and Keeper's Cottage, built 1887
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival1
Moderne1
Browns Point Lighthouse and Keeper's CottageClassical Revival · Built 1887

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Browns Point

Nobody well known was born in Browns Point itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Bing CrosbyAmerican singer and actor · b. 1903
Frank HerbertAmerican writer · b. 1920
Cam GigandetAmerican actor · b. 1982
Dyan CannonAmerican film and television actress, director,… · b. 1937
Richard BrautiganAmerican novelist, poet, and short story writer · b. 1935
Philip AbelsonUS physicist, editor of the journal Science, an… · b. 1913
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Tacoma92 historic placesA−Dash PointIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Browns Point’s history

What is on the National Register in Browns Point?

One place: the Browns Point Lighthouse and Keeper's Cottage (listed 1989).

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.