Brown County, Indiana

Brown County is a county in Indiana, United States, about 50 miles south of Indianapolis and 15
miles east of Bloomington. It had a population of 15,475 at the 2020 census, an estimated 15,777
by 2025, and covers 311.58 square miles (807.0 km2) centred near 39°12′N 86°14′W.

Nashville is the county seat and the county’s only incorporated town; its postal code is 47448.
The county holds 1 town and roughly 25 unincorporated communities across 4 townships, and
it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 18013.

Towns & Villages in Brown County

Brown County has 26 named places on record: 1 incorporated town and 25 unincorporated
communities with no local government of their own. Unincorp. covers crossroads, hamlets and rural
settlements with no formal boundary; some are census-designated places (CDPs) the Census Bureau
tracks for statistical purposes only.

Elkinsville is a special case: the Army Corps of Engineers bought out and razed the original
townsite in the 1960s for the Monroe Reservoir project, and the name now marks the former
community’s site rather than an active settlement. Peoga sits on the Hamblen–Jackson
township line, so it is listed under both in county records.

Townships

Brown County has four civil townships. Washington Township, home to Nashville, is the most
populous; Van Buren, in the county’s hillier south, is the least.

ZIP Codes

• 47448 — Nashville (covers almost all of the county’s addresses)
• 47435 — Helmsburg (delivery point only, no local post office building)

Every other place on this list — Gnaw Bone, Beanblossom, Story, Elkinsville and the rest
— receives mail under the 47448 Nashville ZIP; the county’s hilly, low-density terrain
never supported enough separate post offices to give them codes of their own.

Geography

Brown County sits in south-central Indiana’s unglaciated hill country, a belt of steep
ridges and narrow valleys that the last ice age never flattened, which is why the terrain looks so
different from the flat farmland found across most of the state. Of its 316.63 square miles, 311.58
are land and 4.65 are water, about 1.5 percent. Weed Patch Hill, at 1,058 feet, is the county’s
highest point and the third-highest prominence in Indiana. Salt Creek drains most of the county
and feeds Lake Monroe on the western edge; Brown County State Park, split between Washington and
Van Buren townships, is the state’s largest at over 16,000 acres and covers much of the
county’s northern and southern high ground. An estimated 90 percent of the county remains
forested, more than any other Indiana county.

Johnson County lies to the northeast, Bartholomew County to the east, Jackson County to the
south, Monroe County to the west, and Morgan County to the northwest. Johnson County, Bartholomew County, Jackson County, Monroe County and Morgan County all border Brown
County directly.

Demographics

Brown County had a population of 15,475 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 15,777 residents. Nashville, with 1,256 people, is by far the largest single community;
Gnaw Bone and Helmsburg follow as the next-largest named places, though neither is incorporated.
The county was 94.1 percent white and 4.1 percent multiracial at the 2020 census, with a median
age of 50.1 — older than the Indiana average. Median household income runs $78,528 (2024
estimate), above Indiana’s statewide 2023 figure of $69,477. Population density works out to
roughly 50 people per square mile of land, among the lowest in the state, reflecting the county’s
forested, hilly terrain.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most Brown County residents, about 1,300 people,
followed by manufacturing at 1,215 and retail trade at 877. Much of the retail and hospitality
activity concentrates in Nashville, where art, antique and specialty shops line the downtown
streets alongside galleries, restaurants and wineries. The Brown County Art Colony, founded around
Nashville in 1907 when American Impressionist painter T.C. Steele and other artists settled in the
hills, still draws working artists and gallery visitors today. Brown County State Park, Indiana’s
largest, and the surrounding inns and cabins support a tourism industry that outsizes the
county’s small population. The county’s biggest annual event is the Brown County Fall
Foliage Festival each October, timed to the hardwood color change that draws visitors from across
the Midwest.

History

Indiana’s General Assembly passed the bill creating Brown County on 4 February 1836,
naming it for General Jacob Brown, a hero of the War of 1812 who never set foot in the county.
Early settlers found the steep, rocky terrain poorly suited to row-crop farming; pioneers instead
depended on forest products — lumber, tan bark, cross ties, hoop poles and barrel staves
— hauled to Indianapolis for cash. The original county seat town was platted as Jacksonburg
in 1836 and later renamed Nashville, incorporated in 1872.

By the early 1900s, farming had largely failed on the thin hillside soils and the population
was declining. Painter T.C. Steele built a home and studio, the House of the Singing Winds, near
Belmont in 1907, and other American Impressionist artists followed, drawing on the county’s
hills and light. That Brown County Art Colony gave the county a second identity as an art and
tourism destination that has outlasted the farm economy it replaced. Brown County State Park
opened in 1931, built partly with New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps labor, and remains the
county’s largest single employer of seasonal tourism jobs.

Getting There

No interstate crosses Brown County. State Road 46 runs east–west through Nashville,
connecting to Bloomington and Columbus; State Road 135 runs north–south, connecting to
Indianapolis; State Road 45 crosses the county’s southwest corner.

• Bloomington — about 15 miles west
• Columbus — about 20 miles east
• Indianapolis — about 50 miles north
• Bedford — about 30 miles southwest

Indianapolis International Airport, roughly 50 miles north of Nashville, is the nearest major
commercial airport. Monroe County Airport, near Bloomington, handles general aviation. Amtrak does
not serve Brown County; the nearest station is in Indianapolis.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Brown County located?
It sits in south-central Indiana’s unglaciated hill country, about 50 miles south of
Indianapolis and 15 miles east of Bloomington, bordered by Johnson, Bartholomew, Jackson, Monroe
and Morgan counties.

What is the population of Brown County?
15,475 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 15,777.

How big is Brown County?
311.58 square miles (807.0 km2) of land, plus 4.65 square miles of water, for a total of 316.63
square miles.

What is the county seat of Brown County?
Nashville, incorporated in 1872, is the county seat and the county’s only incorporated
town.

How many towns and villages are in Brown County?
One incorporated town, Nashville, plus about 25 unincorporated communities, including Gnaw Bone,
Helmsburg, Beanblossom, Story and Elkinsville.

What ZIP codes does Brown County use?
47448 for Nashville and almost the entire county, and 47435 for Helmsburg.

What is Brown County known for?
The Brown County Art Colony, founded in Nashville in 1907, and Brown County State Park, Indiana’s
largest at over 16,000 acres, both anchoring one of the state’s biggest fall-foliage tourism
destinations.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Indiana.