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Browntown

Ghost town · Josephine County, Oregon

Oregon Caves quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1954, 1:62,500)
Oregon Caves quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1954, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Browntown is a ghost town in Josephine County, Oregon. It is one of 10 former communities in Josephine County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 9th among the 34 Oregon counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Browntown as a historical populated place on the Grayback Mountain topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 42.0529° N, 123.2639° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleGrayback Mountain
Elevation3,035 ft
Nearest living townWilliams, OR
Distance to it11.6 miles
GNIS feature ID1158144
Coordinates42.05290, -123.26394

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Browntown is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Williams, OR (population 1,030), about 11.6 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 3,035 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Browntown?

Browntown is in Josephine County, Oregon, at 42.0529, -123.2639.

How many ghost towns are in Josephine County?

Josephine County, Oregon has 10 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.