[4] It is named for Henry Stevenson Brown, a commander at the Battle of Velasco, an early conflict between Texians and Mexicans.

The Brownwood, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Brown County.

Indigenous peoples lived here for thousands of years before Europeans entered the area.

[5] In 1856, Welcome W. Chandler from Mississippi became the first settler, arriving with his family, John H. Fowler, and seven slaves.

[8] In 1874, John Wesley Hardin and gang celebrated his 21st birthday in Brown and Comanche Counties.

A lynch mob was formed, but Hardin and his family were put into protective custody.

[5] Pulitzer-Prize winner Katherine Ann Porter was born in 1890 at Indian Creek.

[10] The Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway was built to the county in 1892.

[5] The first commercial production of oil came from the efforts of Jack Pippen at Brownwood in 1917.

[5] The first large field began producing from a depth of 1,100 feet (340 m) in 1919 near Cross Cut.

[12] The first German prisoners of war arrived in 1943; many had been members of Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps.

Area television stations include KRBC-TV, KTXS-TV, KXVA, KTAB-TV, and KIDU-LD.