Brown County, Ohio facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Brown County
U.S. county
Brown County Courthouse
Flag Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Ohio
Ohio's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Ohio
Founded	March 1, 1818
Named for	General Jacob Brown
Seat	Georgetown
Largest village	Georgetown
Area
• Total	493 sq mi (1,280 km2)
• Land	490 sq mi (1,300 km2)
• Water	3.4 sq mi (9 km2)  0.7%%
Population  (2020)
• Total	43,676
• Density	89/sq mi (34/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	2nd

Brown County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 43,676. The county seat is Georgetown. The county was created in 1818 and is named for Major General Jacob Brown, an officer in the War of 1812 who was wounded at the Battle of Lundy's Lane. Brown County is part of the Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

White burley tobacco monument dedicated on August 7, 1964, and located at the Ohio Tobacco Museum in Ripley.

After the American Revolutionary War, the federal government established the Northwest Territory, a large area which encompassed the present county. In 1790, several counties were established, Hamilton among them. In 1797, a portion of Hamilton was partitioned off to create Adams County, and in 1800 another portion was partitioned to create Clermont. This lasted for two decades, during which the area north of the Ohio River attracted settlers.

Among the early settlers was Jesse Root Grant (father of future US President Grant), who built a home and set up a tannery in the future Georgetown area, where young Hiram Ulysses (later changed to Ulysses S.) spent his youth.

On March 1, 1818, portions of Adams and Clermont counties were partitioned off to create Brown County, with Georgetown as its seat. The boundaries of the county were altered in 1874, when a portion was moved to Highland County; they have remained intact since then.

Brown County was said to be the place of origin of the White Burley type of tobacco, grown in 1864 by George Webb and Joseph Fore on the farm of Captain Frederick Kautz near Higginsport, with seed from Bracken County, Kentucky. He noticed it yielded a different type of light leaf shaded from white to yellow, and cured differently. By 1866, he harvested 20,000 pounds of Burley tobacco and sold it in 1867 at the St. Louis Fair for $58 per hundred pounds. By 1883, the principal market for this tobacco was Cincinnati, but it was grown throughout central Kentucky and Middle Tennessee. Later the type became referred to as burley tobacco, and it was air-cured.

Geography

Brown County lies on the south line of the state of Ohio. Its south border abuts the north border of the state of Kentucky across the Ohio River. The Ohio flows westward along the county's south line. White Oak Creek flows southward through the lower part of southwest Brown County, discharging into the Ohio at Higginsport; Straight Creek flows southwestward through the lower central part of the county, discharging into the Ohio two miles (3.2 km) east of Higginsport. Eagle Creek flows southerly through the lower eastern part of the county, discharging into the Ohio east of Ripley. The east fork of the Little Miami River flows southwestward through the upper part of the county, entering Clermont County near Marathon.

The terrain of Brown County consists of low rolling hills, carved by drainages. All available areas are devoted to agriculture. The highest point (at 1,089' or 332 m ASL) in Brown County is a point on Ash Ridge, 9 miles (14 km) southeast of Lake Waynoka. The county has an area of 493 square miles (1,280 km²), of which 490 square miles (1,300 km²) is land and 3.4 square miles (8.8 km²) (0.7%) is water.

Main highways

Adjacent counties

Lakes

• Grant Lake
• Lake Lorelei
• Lake Waynoka

Protected areas

• Della Gates and Charles Bott Wildlife Area
• Grant Lake Wildlife Area
• Indian Creek Wildlife Area
• Eagle Creek Wildlife Area

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 44,846 people, 17,014 households, and 12,379 families in the county. The population density was 91.5 people per square mile (35.3 people/km²). There were 19,301 housing units at an average density of 39.4 units per square mile (15.2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.5% white, 0.9% black or African American, 0.2% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.2% from other races, and 1.0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.6% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 27.0% were German, 14.2% were Irish, 12.5% were American, and 9.7% were English.

Of the 17,014 households, 34.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 27.2% were non-families, and 22.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.02. The median age was 39.9 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $45,887 and the median income for a family was $54,184. Males had a median income of $39,049 versus $30,890 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,167. About 9.0% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.2% of those under age 18 and 8.4% of those age 65 or over.

Media

Radio

• WRAC C103 Country 103.1 FM (West Union)
• WAOL 99.5 (Ripley)

Newspapers

• The News Democrat (Georgetown)
• The Brown County Press (Mount Orab)
• The County Free Press (Georgetown, Monthly)
• The Ripley Bee (Ripley, Weekly)

Communities

Map of Brown County, Ohio With Municipal and Township Labels

Villages

Census-designated places

• Lake Lorelei
• Lake Waynoka
• St. Martin

Unincorporated communities

Townships

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Brown (Ohio) para niños