Browerville, Minnesota
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Browerville is a city in Todd County,
Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
. The population was 790 at the time of the 2010 census. By the 2020 Decennial Census the population had increased to 839.


History

Browerville was
plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...
ted in 1882, and named after Jacob V. Brower (1844–1905), a noted conservationist, father of both
Itasca State Park Itasca State Park () is a state park of Minnesota, United States, and contains the headwaters of the Mississippi River. The park spans of northern Minnesota, and is located about north of Park Rapids, Minnesota and from Bagley, Minnesota. The ...
and the
Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
State Park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...
system, and former Todd County official. Browerville was incorporated in 1884. Two properties in town are on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
: the Kahlert Mercantile Store, built in 1883, and the Church of St. Joseph, completed in 1909. Despite being a largely Irish-, German- and Polish-American area of the State, a Rusyn farming community was also formed during the early 20th century in Browerville, by recent immigrants who had migrated West from the industrial cities in
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
. The building of a Byzantine Catholic parish church was preceded by the founding of a chapter of the Greek Catholic Union of the USA. In a 21 August 1912 open letter to the '' Amerikansky Russky Viestnik'', the parishioners of Holy Trinity Greek Catholic Church in Browerville, known locally as "The Farmer's Church" and which was being served by visiting priests fro
St John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church
in
Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
, announced that they had recently refused to surrender the parish and cemetery deeds to
Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...
's newly appointed Greek Catholic Bishop of the United States, Kyr Soter Ortynsky. This was because the
Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...
farmers of Browerville were
Rusyns Rusyns, also known as Carpatho-Rusyns, Carpatho-Russians, Ruthenians, or Rusnaks, are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group from the Carpathian Rus', Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn language, Rusyn, an East Slavic lan ...
from
Transcarpathia Transcarpathia (, ) is a historical region on the border between Central and Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast. From the Hungarian Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, conquest of the Carpathian Basin ...
and members of the
Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church The Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church, also known in the United States as the Byzantine Catholic Church, is a '' sui iuris'' (autonomous) Eastern Catholic particular church based in Eastern Europe and North America that is part of the worldwide ...
, and they accordingly viewed Bishop Soter, a member of the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is a Major archiepiscopal church, major archiepiscopal ''sui iuris'' ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic church that is based in Ukraine. As a particular church of the Cathol ...
from the
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, also known as Austrian Galicia or colloquially Austrian Poland, was a constituent possession of the Habsburg monarchy in the historical region of Galicia (Eastern Europe), Galicia in Eastern Europe. The Cr ...
, as a foreigner. They intended instead to wait for a Rusyn Bishop to also be assigned in
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
before surrendering the deed. A regular pastor was never assigned, however. Tensions rose further in 1926, when the family of Michael Dorosh, inspired by
Russophilia Russophilia is the identification or solidarity with, appreciation of, or support for the country, people, language, and history of Russia. One who espouses Russophilia is called a russophile. Its antonym is Russophobia. In the 19th century, ...
, converted to the
Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
and joined St. Mary's Russian Orthodox Church in
Holdingford, Minnesota Holdingford is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 708 at the 2010 census. It claims to be "The Gateway to Lake Wobegon", the fictional central Minnesota town created by author Garrison Keillor. Holdingfor ...
. For a time, the Russian Orthodox priest from Holdingford would visit Browerville, which led to both Orthodox and Greek Catholics using Holy Trinity Church at different times. Most parishioners of Holy Trinity Church, however, eventually switched to the
Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...
and mainly joined St. Peter's Church, locally known as "the German church", instead of converting to Orthodoxy. The last attempted use of the Church was for a Greek Catholic Funeral Liturgy, or Panikhida. The Greek Catholic priest from Northeast Minneapolis drove only as far as St. Cloud, Minnesota before further progress was stopped by the infamous 1940 Armistice Day Blizzard. To the outrage of the remaining Greek Catholics of Browerville, they were still required to pay the priest's bill. The Holy Trinity Church building then fell into disuse and has since been demolished. In 1990, the Traditional Catholic Sisters of the Society of Saint Pius X purchased the former Browerville hospital, which has been in use ever since as their
Novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...
.


Geography

According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , all land. The
Long Prairie River The Long Prairie River is a tributary of the Crow Wing River, long, in central Minnesota in the United States. Via the Crow Wing River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of in a generally rural region. Hi ...
, flows near the town's eastern boundary. Eagle and Harris Creeks join the river near town Browerville is along U.S. Highway 71, and County Roads 14 and 21.


Demographics


2010 census

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2010, there were 790 people, 326 households, and 196 families living in the city. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 366 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 95.3%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.6%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.4% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 1.8% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 3.8% of the population. There were 326 households, of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.2% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 16.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 39.9% were non-families. 34.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.95. The median age in the city was 37.8 years. 26.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.3% were from 25 to 44; 24.8% were from 45 to 64; and 17.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.1% male and 51.9% female.


2000 census

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2000, there were 735 people, 318 households, and 181 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 337 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.23%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.54% Native American, 0.54% Asian, 0.14% from other races, and 0.54% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 0.95% of the population. There were 318 households, out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.5% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.8% were non-families. 41.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 27.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 3.10. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.3% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 22.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 78.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 72.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $26,250, and the median income for a family was $48,393. Males had a median income of $35,208 versus $24,375 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $15,493. About 10.9% of families and 15.2% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 18.0% of those under age 18 and 17.3% of those age 65 or over.


Government

As of 2023 the mayor is Hannah Wieshalla and the City Council members are Alan Fenner, Angela Johnson, Christopher Minor and Sue Wiersgalla.


Education


Public schools

Browerville Public Schools are part of the Browerville Public School District. The elementary and high schools are attached, at 620 Park Avenue North. The average class size ranges between 40 and 55 students. Browerville sports teams use Tigers as their mascot. In fall, football and volleyball are offered. In winter, boys basketball, girls basketball, and wrestling are offered. In spring, softball, baseball, boys and girls golf, and boys and girls track are offered. Along with that, cheerleading is offered in fall and winter. The mascot used to be the Broncos when they were paired with differing school districts for sports, but now they stick with the tigers. Browerville school has an out door swimming pool and offers summer swimming programs.


Private schools

Christ the King Catholic Church runs a parochial K-6 school at 750 North Main Street. Christ the King resulted in the combination of the two historical Roman Catholic parishes in Browerville: St. Joseph (Polish) and St. Peter (German). The initiative to combine the parishes was taken by the Diocese of St. Cloud, rather than by the faithful of these two parishes.


Art

Christ the King Catholic Church is home to the sculpture
Christ Prays in Gethsemane
an
Comforting Angel
Both pieces, found in the yard in front of the church, were sculpted by Browerville born Joseph Kiselewski in 1932. A number of Kiselewski's small sculptures, along with a photo display, can be seen at American Heritage Bank in Browerville.


Notable people

* Joseph Kiselewski, sculptor; born in Browerville in 1901 and retired here in 1980. * LaVyrle Spencer, best-selling
author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...
of contemporary and
historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...
romance novels A romance or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primarily focuses on the relationship and romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed to the developme ...
; born in Browerville.


Gallery

Browerville Municipal Liquor Store-Browerville, Minnesota.jpg, Browerville Municipal Liquor Store Post Office-Browerville, Minnesota.jpg, Post Office City Hall-Browerville, Minnesota.jpg, City Hall Main Street, looking west-Browerville, Minnesota.jpg, Main Street, looking west Building at Main and 6th Streets, looking northwest-Browerville, Minnesota.jpg, Building at Main and 6th Streets, looking northwest Main Street between 5th and 6th Streets, looking southwest-Browerville, Minnesota.jpg, Main Street between 5th and 6th Streets, looking southwest Main Street at 6th Street looking north-Browerville, Minnesota.jpg, Main Street at 6th Street looking north Christ the King Catholic Church Browerville, Minnesota 06.jpg, Christ the King Catholic Church


References


External links


City of Browerville Minnesota

Browerville Public School District

ePodunk: Profile for Browerville, Minnesota, MN

Autobiography of Joseph Kiselewski
{{authority control Cities in Minnesota Cities in Todd County, Minnesota Eastern Orthodoxy in Minnesota Rusyn-American history Ruthenian Catholic churches in the United States Traditionalist Catholicism in the United States