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Brown County, Indiana

87 topographic sheets cover 34 settlements here, and 9 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Research this county

From the record

9 National Register listings published here.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service

Indiana within the United States
Brown County within Indiana

What the record shows

  • 713 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
  • 9 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 4 districts, 3 buildings and 2 structures.
  • 1 of them is a covered bridge.
  • 1 of the 9 listings was added during the 1970s.
  • The Geographic Names Information System records 34 populated places in this county; 34 are covered by at least one topographic sheet.

Places on the National Register

9

Every property in this county listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the year it was listed and the federal nomination document.

Photograph PropertyType ListedReference
Bean Blossom Covered Bridgestructure2022100007441
Brown County Bridge No. 36structure199393001430
Brown County Courthouse Historic Districtdistrict198383000050
Brown County State Parkdistrict2020100005867
Thomas A. Hendricks House and Stone Head Road Markerbuilding198484000450
Nashville Historic Districtdistrict2022100008408
Theodore Clement Steele House and Studiobuilding197373000029
Story Historic Districtdistrict2019100003500
F.P. Taggart Storebuilding198383003559

Covered bridges

1

Brown County has 1 covered bridge on the National Register. Each is a listed structure with a federal nomination on file.

Bean Blossom Covered BridgeListed 2022

Wildfire, 1995 to 2018

28 fires

Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 28 of them, burning about 225 acres. None started naturally and 5 were recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning14
Recreation and ceremony7
Arson/incendiarism5
Equipment and vehicle use1
Smoking1

The five largest, by the area the report gives. One of them was set deliberately.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
22 March 1995Arson/incendiarism47 acresHoosier National ForestHOLLOW LOG
4 November 1999Recreation and ceremony37 acresHoosier National ForestORIENT
8 August 2012Equipment and vehicle use35 acresHoosier National ForestFREEDOM
11 January 2000Debris and open burning30 acresHoosier National ForestBOBB
5 February 2017Debris and open burning17 acresHoosier National ForestHARRIS
20 April 2016Recreation and ceremony13 acresHoosier National ForestBROWN HOLLOW
3 April 2011Debris and open burning5.0 acresHoosier National ForestDECKARD RIDGE 2
15 March 2009Recreation and ceremony5.0 acresHoosier National Forest135 CAMPFIRE

Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.

Storms, 1964 to 2026

60 of 190 shown

The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 190 reports for this county, causing no deaths, 4 injuries and about $2,367,200 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.

Kind of event Reports
Thunderstorm Wind112
Hail39
Flash Flood21
Tornado7
Flood6
Heavy Rain2
Funnel Cloud2
Lightning1

The most serious of them, by death, then injury, then recorded damage. The accounts are quoted exactly as the forecast office filed them.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 1995Thunderstorm WindNeedmore2 hurt, $5,000Two people were injured when a tree fell on a pickup truck.
September 1988Tornado (F1)not stated1 hurt, $250,000no account filed
May 1996LightningNashville1 hurtno account filed
April 2025Flash FloodTrevlac$500,000One road was washed out with numerous other road closures. Roads remained closed for several days but the flash flooding threat only lasted a few hours.
June 2008Flash FloodFruitdate$500,000Several evacuations occurred due to heavy rain that triggered flash flooding. Homes were flooded near Lake Lemon and multiple residents needed rescued. Sate Road 135 was closed.
June 2008Tornado (EF2)Peoga$200,000In Brown County near Peoga damaged occurred to twenty to thirty homes, a barn, powerlines, trees, and a carport due to a tornado. One indirect injury occurred when I firefighter suffered heat stroke. In Johnson County at Camp Atterbury forty buildings were damaged, dozens of vehicles including a 6,000 pound Humvee and a bus were tossed and crushed, the chapel was damaged, and a trailer was tossed on top of a building. Also in Johnson County in Edinburgh 59 buildings were damaged or destroyed. One woman suffered an ankle injury during the tornado. Damaged occurred in Shelby County to a gas station. One woman at the gas station sustained minor injuries when her car windows were blown out. The tornado touched down at 2024 EST in Brown County near the intersection of Sweetwater Trail and Beech Tree Road. The tornado tracked to the northeast for 2.83 miles before crossing into Johnson County approximately 1000 feet west of County Road 900 at 2030 EST. The tornado continued to track to the northeast for 7.19 miles until 2046 EST when the tornado entered Shelby County just south of the County Road 900 and West State Road 252 intersection. The tornado lifted at 2047 EST in Shelby County after tracking to the northeast and lifting at exit 80 on Interstate 65. The tornado was an EF-2 while in Brown County causing 200 thousand dollars in damage. The tornado was an EF-2 while in Johnson County causing 23 million dollars in damage. The tornado weakened to an EF-1 while in Shelby County causing 15 thousand dollars in damage. Based on damage indicators, at the tornadoes peak intensity wind speeds were around 130 miles per hour. The tornado formed from a supercell and was on the ground for 23 minutes or 10.59 miles.
April 2025Flash FloodNashville$100,000Water flowing over a bridge on State Road 135. Several water rescues completed. Total rainfall ranged from 2.6 to 3.4 inches.
June 2021Flash FloodBethany$100,000A house along State Road 135 South had rapidly rising flood waters enter the building. Damage was noted to several bridges across the rural portions of the county.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindTaggart$50,000Widespread thunderstorm straight-line winds of 80 to 90 mph created significant uprooted and broken trees within a wide area as well along the damage path of a nearby brief, EF0 tornado.
June 2019Flash FloodNashville$50,000Dispatch reports a crew headed to rescue residents that were possibly trapped after a small dam failure due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall.
May 2002Flash FloodCountywide$50,000no account filed
May 1996Tornado (F1)Nashville$50,000no account filed
April 2017Thunderstorm WindNew Bellsville$40,000Trees were reported down all across the township due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts. Some of those trees were reported to be blocking roadways and delaying emergency responders. A tree also fell on a house, trapping a man inside.
May 2022Tornado (EF0)Taggart$30,000The first tornado to impact central Indiana on May 21st, an EF0 tornado, downed numerous trees in a convergent pattern through a densely wooded area. Peak winds estimated at 84 mph.
June 2019Flash FloodBelmont$30,000Dispatch reported very significant flooding ongoing south and west of Nashville due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. Numerous road closures with portions of State Road 46 under water. Several water rescues were completed.
March 2025Thunderstorm WindNashville$25,000Numerous tree tops downed and trees toppled at the west gate of the Brown County State Park.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindPeoga$25,000Trees down into power lines at Beech Tree and Nineveh roads. 18 other reports of trees down across Brown County.
November 2017FloodHelmsburg$25,000A trained spotter reported 6 to 9 inches of standing water on Lick Creek Road, north of State Road 45 due to heavy rainfall. Several vehicles were stalled in water.
January 2012Thunderstorm WindNashville$25,000Part of the roof on the Nashville Elementary School was blown off due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts. Water damage occurred to some of the classrooms.
May 2002Flash FloodNashville$25,000no account filed
May 1975Tornado (F0)not stated$25,000no account filed
August 2009Thunderstorm WindBean Blossom$20,000Damage was done to a house in the Woodland Lake area due to thunderstorm wind gusts. An amateur radio tower was blown down and a 2 inch steel diameter pipe was sheared off a wall. Multiple trees were down in this vicinity as well. The time this event occurred was estimated.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindNashville$15,000Thunderstorm wind gusts blew down a tree blown onto a car with people.
June 2025Flash FloodNashville$15,000Rainfall, reported as great as 3.35 inches west-northwest of Nashville, produced flash flooding in the Nashville area. Water flowed over a bridge near the Nashville General Store.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindChristiansburg$10,000Thunderstorm wind gusts downed multiple trees.
March 2026FloodBelmont$10,000Roadway flooding reported along Indiana Route 46 from Bloomington to Nashville. Creeks and drainage ditches were at capacity and some were overflowing.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindBeck Grove$10,000A 75 mph thunderstorm wind gust was estimated at this location with numerous trees downed.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindYoung$10,000Significant tree damage caused by thunderstorm wind gusts in rural areas around Monroe Lake.
December 2021Thunderstorm WindMt Liberty$10,000Trees and power lines down by thunderstorm wind gusts all over Brown County.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindTrevlac$10,000Trees and power lines were downed, all in the same direction, near Trevlac due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindNashville$10,000Multiple trees and power lines were downed due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts.
July 2015Flash FloodGnaw Bone$10,000A small portion of Brown Hill Road was washed out because of flooding due to heavy thunderstorm rainfall.
April 1998Flash FloodCountywide$10,000no account filed
July 2014Thunderstorm WindNashville$8,000Reports received of trees and power lines down near Highway 46 in Brown County due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts.
July 2013Flash FloodChristiansburg$8,000Two women were rescued from a vehicle trapped in high water on Mount Nebo Road due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. This report was received via Twitter.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindStory$5,000Thunderstorm wind gusts downed a tree onto utility lines with 3 to 5-inch diameter branches broken off across State Road 135.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindChristiansburg$5,000Thunderstorm winds downed trees in south-central Brown County.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindTaggart$5,000Thunderstorm winds downed individual trees on Salt Creek Road and Valley Branch Road and Railroad Road.
March 2022Thunderstorm WindCordry Lake$5,000Tree damage caused by thunderstorm wind gusts on Ford Ridge Road.
April 2017Thunderstorm WindGnaw Bone$5,000Trees were reported to be down in the area due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts.
July 2015Flash FloodNashville$5,000Widespread flooding was occurring in Nashville due to heavy thunderstorm rainfall.
January 2008Flash FloodNew Bellsville$5,000Heavy rain caused flash flooding and closed State Road 135 from Stone Head to State Road 46.
June 2008Flash FloodNashville$5,000Roadways were covered and previous flooding conditions were exacerbated due to heavy rainfall that caused renewed flash flooding.
June 2008Flash FloodBean Blossom$5,000Roadways were covered and previous flooding conditions were exacerbated due to heavy rainfall that caused renewed flash flooding.
August 1993Thunderstorm Windnot stated$5,000Trees and power lines were downed over the northern part of the county.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindGnaw Bone$4,000Thunderstorm winds downed 3 trees across southern Brown County.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindStory$4,000Several trees were downed across the southern part of the county due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts.
March 2025Thunderstorm WindChristiansburg$3,000A 68 mph thunderstorm wind gust was measured at this location. Tree branches were snapped, and a trampoline was thrown 100 yards.
December 2025Thunderstorm WindChristiansburg$3,000Thunderstorm wind gusts downed multiple trees in the area.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindStone Head$3,000Thunderstorm winds downed three trees onto Indiana Route 135 about 1 mile north of Van Buren Elementary School.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindCordry Lake$3,000Power poles and power lines downed due to thunderstorm wind gusts near Sweetwater Lake.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindMt Liberty$3,000Several large tree limbs were reportedly snapped along State Road 46, east of Nashville, due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts. Power was reported to be out in Gnaw Bone as well.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindHelmsburg$3,000Three trees were downed in the woods off of Lanam Ridge Road due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts. Winds were estimated at 50 to 60 mph.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindChristiansburg$2,000Several large tree limbs downed by thunderstorm wind gusts.
February 2026Thunderstorm WindChristiansburg$2,000A 64 mph thunderstorm wind gust was recorded with a few tree branches snapped.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindChristiansburg$2,000Multiple tree branches downed by thunderstorm wind gusts.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindBeck Grove$2,000Thunderstorm winds downed one tree at each end of Garrity Road. Individual trees located at 2 miles east-northeast of Spurgeons Corner and 3 miles northwest of Waymansville.
September 2014Thunderstorm WindDoubling Track$2,000A couple trees were reported down on Old Haggard Road due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts. Power outages affected the area as well.
July 2013Flash FloodChristiansburg$2,000Christianburg Road was flooded and impassable, south of Hamilton Creek Road due to thunderstorm heavy rainfall. Rapidly flowing water was reported to be going into the backyards of homes near Spurgeons Corner.
January 2008Thunderstorm WindNashville$2,000Trees and power lines were reported down blocking State Route 135 due to damaging thunderstorm winds.

Mines and quarries

4 recorded

The Survey's mineral resources record lists 4 workings inside this county. 1 still produces and 3 are closed or unrecorded. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.

Commodity Workings
Flagstone3
Stone1

The least common of them first, because a county's hundredth gravel pit says nothing its first ten did not.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Brown County Highway Dept.StoneProducer
Brown County Native Stone Co QuarryFlagstonePast Producer
Brown County Stone Co QuarryFlagstonePast Producer
Lambert Dimension Sandstone QuarryFlagstonePast Producer

Every populated place in the county

34

Named settlements recorded in the Geographic Names Information System, each with the topographic sheets covering it. Villages, hamlets and abandoned places alike. Each is shown with the nearest named watercourse or landform and the survey quadrangle it falls on.

The vanished settlements of Brown County: the places named above that are no longer on the map.

Provenance

  • Topographic sheets. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, county index, measured from the bulk metadata.
  • Fire insurance maps. Library of Congress Sanborn collection, faceted to this county.
  • Photographs. Each place queried individually against the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs search.
  • 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.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • 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.