Formed February 3, 1836 (81st county)
Brown County (15,475), Nashville (1,254)
A red brick courthouse sits on Van Buren Street between Main and Old Hickory streets. Van Buren Street is Indiana State Highway 135. It was built in 1873 in Greek Revival style. The structure has a small tower and veteran memorials are on the grounds. There was an earlier courthouse built in 1837. McCormack and Sweeney are the architects. The county was created on February 3, 1836 from parts of Bartholomew, Jackson, and Monroe counties as the 81st county. Jacksonburg was the first county seat followed by Nashville in 1837. The county is named for War of 1812 hero General Jacob Brown. The county seat is named for Nashville, Tennessee.
Brown County government consists of a sheriff, an auditor, a clerk, a coroner, a treasurer, and an assessor (executive). It has 7 Council Members (legislative.) A Circuit Court Judge and a prosecutor serve Brown County (judicial.) The county is in south central Indiana. Indianapolis, Indiana is north and Louisville, Kentucky is southeast of the county. The county center is 5.5 miles Southeast of Nashville. The county is surrounded clockwise by Johnson, Bartholomew, Jackson, Monroe, and Morgan counties.
The area of the county is 312 square miles. It is 75 out of 92 in the state. It ranks 79 out of 92 in population in the state. It has a density of 49.6 persons per square mile making it 78 out of 92 in the state. Brown County has 8.1% of its population in its incorporated areas. There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county. The county is overall a rectangle. Nashville is located near the geographical county center. Nashville is the county seat and the only incorporated city thus the largest city. It is 8.1% of the county population. This county is in the Indianapolis-Carmel Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Nashville
