Brown

Formed March 1, 1818 (50^th county)

Brown County (43,674), Georgetown (4,457)                

The pleasant Revival courthouse, erected in 1851, was recently augmented with a justice center.  Brown County was organized on March 1, 1818 from Adams and Clermont counties as the 50^th county.  The building sits on a square surrounded by Grant, Pleasant, Cherry, and Main.  Ohio State Highway 125 is State Street, one block south of the courthouse.  Emmet Hubert Baker and Charles Crouch are the architects of this white brick structure.  The courthouse features a tower with a working clock.  Veteran memorials are on the grounds and a Liberty bell is across the street.  The building was enlarged in 1914 and restored in 1977 following a fire.  The county is named for War of 1812 General Jacob Brown.  The county seat is named for Georgetown, Kentucky.  Ripley (1818), Bridgewater (1819), and Georgetown (1823) have all served as the county seat. 

Brown County government consists of an auditor, a sheriff, an attorney, and a coroner (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Two Common Pleas Court Judges and a court clerk serve Brown County (judicial.)  The county is on the southwest border with Kentucky.  The Ohio River forms its southern border.  Cincinnati, Ohio is northwest and Columbus, Ohio is northeast of the county.  The county center is 5.4 miles Northeast of Georgetown nearer Wahlsburg.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Clinton, Highland, and Adams counties and Kentucky and Clermont County. 

The area of the county is 491.8 square miles.  It is 30 out of 88 in the state.  It ranks 55 out of 88 in population in the state.  It has a density of 88.8 persons per square mile making it 62 out of 88 in the state.  Brown County has 33.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 50 cuts the northern part of the county from east to west from Highland County to Clermont County.  United States Highway 52 parallels the Ohio River from east to west from Adams County to Clermont County.  United States Highway 62 enters from the north, Highland County, and exits to the south, Kentucky.  United States Highway 68 comes from Clinton County, northwest, and joins United States Highway 62 into Kentucky.  The county looks like a hatchet with the blade pointing east.  Georgetown is located in the southwest quarter of the county.  Georgetown is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 10.2% of the county population.  This county is in the Cincinnati-Middletown Metropolitan Statistical Area.