1862 Johnson Map of Minnesota and Dakota - Geographicus - MNDK-johnson-1862

Brown County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,912. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is New Ulm. The county was formed in 1855 and organized in 1856. Brown County comprises the New Ulm, MN Micropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the

Mankato Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The population was 44,488 at the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Mi ...

-New Ulm- North Mankato, MN Combined Statistical Area.

History

Brown County was founded in 1855 in the southwest corner of what was

Minnesota Territory The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Minnesota and the w ...

. It was named for

Joseph Renshaw Brown Joseph Renshaw Brown (1805–1870) was an American politician, pioneer, fur trader, newspaper editor, businessman, inventor, speculator, and Indian agent who was prominent in Minnesota and Wisconsin territorial and state politics for over 50 ye ...

, a member of the Governor's Council of the Territory in 1855. In 1857, Brown County was divided, creating Cottonwood,

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

, Murry,

Nobles Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

, Pipestone, and

Rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

counties. Watonwan was broken off in 1860.

Redwood Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of Pinophyta, coniferous trees within the family (biology), family Cupressaceae, that range in the Northern Hemisphere, northern hemisphere. It includes the List of superlative tree ...

was created from a large portion of Brown County in 1862. Redwood was further divided into Lac qui Parle, Lincoln,

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

and Yellow Medicine Counties in the 1870s. In 1862, the county's 150-mile northern border was the boundary line of the Upper and Lower Sioux reservations when the 1862 Dakota War broke out. New Ulm, the county seat, came under heavy attack twice by a superior Mdewakanton Dacotah force that was repulsed. Most of the town was torched and most of the population fled to St. Peter and

. The town took many casualties, with the dead buried in the streets. In 1863, when the treaties with the eastern Dacotah were annulled and the two reservations were dissolved, the county border was moved north 10 miles to the

Minnesota River The Minnesota River () is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa. It rises in southwestern ...

Geography

The

flows east-southeast along the county's northern border. The Cottonwood River flows east-northeast through the county's central and upper area, discharging into the Minnesota at the northern border. The Little Cottonwood River flows east through the lower portion of the county, on its way to discharge into the Minnesota in neighboring Blue Earth County. The terrain consists of rolling hills, mostly devoted to agriculture,''Brown County MN'' Google Maps (accessed March 5, 2019)
/ref> and generally slopes to the east, tending to drop into the river valleys. Its highest point is at its southwestern corner, at ASL. The county has an area of , of which is land and (1.2%) is water.

Transit

* Hermann Express

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 14 *

Minnesota State Highway 4 Minnesota State Highway 4 (MN 4) is a highway in southwest and west-central 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 O ...

Minnesota State Highway 15 Minnesota State Highway 15 (MN 15) is a highway in south-central and central Minnesota, which runs from Iowa Highway 15 at the Iowa state line and continues north to its northern terminus at its interchange with U.S. Highway 10 outside of S ...

* Minnesota State Highway 68 * Minnesota State Highway 257

Adjacent counties

* Nicollet County - northeast * Blue Earth County - southeast * Watonwan County - south * Cottonwood County - southwest * Redwood County - west * Renville County - northwest

Lakes

Most of the county is an area of rich

farm land A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

; most of its wetlands were drained for use in agriculture, leaving a number of lakes. The county has at least 32 lakes, some of which are deemed to be "protected waters" of the State of Minnesota; these are designated with "(p)" below. The lakes occupy "hollows in the driftsheet"; many have neither an inflow nor an outflow. Lakes in the county include: * Altermatt Lake (p) * Bachelor Lake (p), in Stark township * Boise Lake (p) * Clear Lake (p) * Gilman Lake (p) * Horseshoe Lake * Juni Lake (p), named for Benedict Juni, a Swiss settler. * Lake Cottonwood (p) * Lake Hanska (p) * Linden Lake (p) * Lone Tree Lake (p) * Omsrud Lake (p) * School Lake (p), named for its location in school section 16. * Sleepy Eye Lake (p) * Zanders Lake (p)

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of New Ulm have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1984 and a record high of was recorded in July 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in January to in June.

Demographics

2020 Census

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 26,911 people, 10,598 households, and 7,164 families in the county. 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 11,163 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.82%

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 ...

, 0.10%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

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 ...

, 0.12% Native American, 0.41% Asian, 0.01%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.91% from other races, and 0.63% from two or more races. 2.03% of the population were

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. 67.1% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and 9.6% Norwegian ancestry. There were 10,598 households, out of which 31.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.30% 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, 6.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.40% were non-families. 29.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.00. The county population contained 25.30% under the age of 18, 9.70% from 18 to 24, 25.60% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 17.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 98.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $39,800, and the median income for a family was $49,811. Males had a median income of $32,347 versus $23,918 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 county was $19,535. About 4.40% of families and 6.40% 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 7.00% of those under age 18 and 9.80% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Cobden *

Comfrey ''Symphytum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae, known by the common name comfrey (pronounced , from the Latin confervere to 'heal' or literally to 'boil together', referring to uses in ancient traditional medicin ...

(partial) *

Evan Evan is a Welsh language, Welsh masculine given name, derived from ''Iefan'', a Welsh form of the name John (name), John. Similar names that share this origin include Euan, Ivan (name), Ivan, Ian, and Juan. "John" itself is derived from the ancie ...

* Hanska * New Ulm (county seat) * Sleepy Eye * Springfield

Census-designated place

* Searles

Unincorporated communities

* Essig * Godahl (partial) * Leavenworth

Townships

* Albin Township * Bashaw Township * Burnstown Township * Cottonwood Township * Eden Township * Home Township * Lake Hanska Township * Leavenworth Township * Linden Township * Milford Township * Mulligan Township * North Star Township * Prairieville Township * Sigel Township * Stark Township * Stately Township

Government and politics

Brown County has traditionally voted Republican. As of 2024, the only time the county has supported the Democratic nominee for president since 1936 was in the

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

landslide win for

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

, and even then, Johnson only won the county by 218 votes and less than a 2% margin of victory.

Footnotes

Works cited

External links

Brown County official website

City of New Ulm (County Seat)
{{Coord, 44.23, -94.72, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MN_source:UScensus1990 Minnesota counties 1856 establishments in Minnesota Territory Populated places established in 1856