[4] Brownsville was originally known as "Calapooya" after the area's original inhabitants, the Kalapuya Native People, or "Kirk's Ferry", after the ferry operated across the Calapooia River by early settlers Alexander and Sarah Kirk.

[6] Brownsville was named in honor of Hugh L. Brown, who settled there in 1846 and opened the first store.

[7] In 1851, the Territorial Legislature passed an act establishing Albany as the county seat.

[8] In the mid-1980s, Brownsville assumed a modicum of international renown as the location for the film Stand by Me, directed by Rob Reiner.

[9] The film was shot in and around the community in June and July 1985, with theatrical release in August 1986.

[9] About 100 local residents were used as extras in the film, and the event was memorialized in 2007 with the first community celebration of Stand by Me Day on July 23 of that year.

[9] The date for Stand by Me Day was chosen by local resident and expert on the film Linda McCormick, who recalled in a 2016 interview that the day had been picked as one that did not interfere with other regional events and "wasn't too close to the start of the school year.

[9] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.34 square miles (3.47 km2), all land.