Brownhelm was the first local government of any kind in the United States to elect a black man to public office; on April 2, 1855, John Mercer Langston, a black man from Virginia, became town clerk.

[5] Located in northwestern Lorain County along the shores of Lake Erie, it borders the following townships and cities: Parts of the city of Vermilion are located in northern Brownhelm Township.

[7] The first pioneer-settlers within present-day Brownhelm Township in 1816 were Peter P. Pease (later also being the first settler of Oberlin, Ohio), and Daniel T. Baldwin (who shortly later helped to establish the city of Lorain).

[8] As a result, modern historians have commonly attributed the "first pioneer-settlement" of Brownhelm Township as being in 1817.

[citation needed] The township is governed by a three-member board of trustees, who are elected in November of odd-numbered years to a four-year term beginning on the following January 1.