Browntown, Alabama
22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1981. It stands in the Section census division. It lies in ZIP code area 35765. The Survey maps it on the Sylvania quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 22 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1886 USGS Stevenson quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Stevenson quadrangle1:125000
- 1895 USGS Stevenson quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1936 USGS Sylvania quadrangle1:24000
- 1947 USGS Sylvania quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1950 USGS Sylvania quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1961 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Chickamauga quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
113 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 113 fires within 5 miles of Browntown between 1994 and 2019, burning about 889 acres in total. None started naturally. 23 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 47 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 32 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 23 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 5 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 12 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 8 September 1998 | Debris and open burning | 50 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 6 September 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 11 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160906-16 |
| 6 September 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 5 September 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 18 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | not named |
| 29 September 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 10 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | NOR-20140929-001 |
| 28 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160928-40 |
| 25 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | 7.0 acres | Alabama Forestry Commission | 20160925-5 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
9 since 2010Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Browntown in 9 storm reports between 2010 and 2025: 8 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2010 | Tornado (EF2) | Browntown | $150,000 | An EF-2 tornado with peak winds up to 115 mph touched down along Highway 40 just east of Highway 71. Significant damage occurred at highway 40 and County Road 22. A couple of sheds were destroyed and numerous large trees were snapped and uprooted. A single-wide manufactured home was lifted 4 to 6 feet off its foundation along County Road 382 north of Highway 40. Additional damage occurred along County Road 134 before the tornado crossed into DeKalb County. |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Browntown | $4,000 | Trees were reported down in the Dean's Chapel community. Time was estimated by radar. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Browntown | $1,000 | A tree was knocked down on CR 382. |
| September 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Browntown | $1,000 | A tree was knocked down about 3 miles east-northeast of Dutton on Highway 40. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Browntown | $1,000 | Trees were knocked down over the roadway at the 200 block of CR 59 near Dutton. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Browntown | $1,000 | Trees were knocked down along Highway 71 and Highway 40 in Pleasant View. |
| May 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Browntown | $200 | A tree was knocked down across the roadway in the 300 block of CR 176. |
| May 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Browntown | $200 | A tree was knocked down across CR 406. |
| March 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Browntown | - | Structural damage of a house was reported on County Road 406 near Dutton. |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bowman Crossroads | 1.4 miles | 22 | |
| Fair View | 2.7 miles | 20 | |
| Index (historical) | 3.3 miles | 23 | |
| Morris Mill | 3.4 miles | 20 | |
| Dutton | 4.6 miles | 21 | |
| Central | 4.9 miles | 20 | |
| Gray (historical) | 5.3 miles | 23 | |
| Pisgah | 5.5 miles | 20 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 115024. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.










