Brownstown, IN

Brownstown is the Jackson County seat in southern Indiana, platted in 1816 before Indiana became a state. Colonel John Ketcham donated land for the courthouse square, and the town took its name from General Jacob Brown, a War of 1812 hero. Brownstown had 3,025 residents in 2020. The square still carries the county-seat job, with the Jackson County Courthouse, its clock tower, and the surrounding streets preserving the original civic layout. The East Fork of the White River runs along town, and Jackson-Washington State Forest begins about two and a half miles southeast on State Road 250.

ATTRNyttend / Public domain

That gives Brownstown a nice local split: courthouse business and library errands in the center, then forest roads, shelters, and river country just outside town. The Brownstown Public Library and local schools fill out the everyday map. Brownstown is a southern Indiana county town where an old public square, a river, and a state forest all sit within the same short drive. The square’s four-sided clock tower is hard to miss when you come through town.