Driving down the main street of Brownsville is like slipping
into the past. The town of 1750 residents where the movie "Stand
By Me" was filmed, has remained largely unchanged. Roughly
midway between Salem and Eugene, it's a happily undeveloped
part of the Willamette Valley where everyone knows one another
and is proud of the town's history.
Brownsville's historic downtown is located only 4 miles off
I-5. Astride the languid Calapooia River, our town is short
on bustle and long on charm, befitting a place that was settled
13 years before Oregon achieved statehood.
Described by local folks as both a good place to raise kids
and a place to raise good kids, Brownsville is still happily
living in the past. "It's an unusual community that's still
like it was 40, 50, 60,years ago," said Don Ware, owner and
editor of the city's 124 year old newspaper, The Times.
"In some ways it's may be like stepping back into the 40's."
The city is buffered by pool-table flat agricultural fields
to the west and forested hills to the east that are volcanic
buttes left-over from the formation of the Cascades Range.
"It's stayed the same for many years," Frankie Ridinger said.
"I don't think there were too many changes in this decade."
As a result, Brownsville won't see a strip mall any time soon.
Instead, residents frequent the town's quaint but reliable
downtown where Ware can take a short jaunt from his newspaper
office to the post office, dentist, doctor, pharmacy, library,
lumber yard, and combination cafe/antique store.
Most businesses occupy buildings that were constructed in the
early 1900's, with some built in the late 1800's. The city also
has a great assortment of historic homes that are easily found
thanks to tour maps that identify them and give a brief history.
(Maps are available at the Linn County Historical Museum in
town)
Brownsville dates to 1846 when three pioneer families - the
Kirks, Browns and Blakelys -continued south at the end of the
Oregon Trail. They stopped at a rest area on the Calapooia River
and stuck around, boasting of lush grass so tall their cattle
got lost in it.
In 1853, James Blakely platted a town and named it after
his uncle Hugh Brown, both of whom had established a store
south of the Calapooia. By 1912, the city had grown to 1,000
residents.
Bypassed by the mainline railroad and later by Oregon 99
and I-5, Brownsville has remained one of the last undeveloped
pocket s in the Willamette Valley.
"Bend's not what Bend was, Salem certainly isn't what Salem
was, but Brownsville is what it was," Ware said.
The city boasts a fine county
museum featuring pioneer photos and artifacts in four
railroad boxcars, an old spinster of a home - the Moyer House,
an 1881 Italianate home open to the public on weekends- and
the expansive 26-acre Pioneer Park.
The park is such a hot spot that former City Administrator
David Clyne said folks have been known to camp outside Brownsville
City Hall for three days to get first dibs on rental dates.
Brownsville's central location is a bonus. "The convenience
is we're not too far from Albany or Eugene if we need to go
get something that Brownsville doesn't have," Frankie Ridinger
said.
Lynda and Joe DeZurney own an antique store and a cafe,
all in the 1847-vintage Brownsville General Store building
which previously has housed a pharmacy, pool hall, and tavern.
For other residents, such as Charity Haworth, Brownsville
is a refreshing change. Haworth moved to Brownsville from
Santa Monica, California. "It's a little bit of a contrast",
she said. Haworth said she's seeing more two-income families
moveto Brownsville. Some residents commute to Albany, Corvallis,
Eugene, Halsey, Salem and points between.
In general, Haworth said, Brownsville is a "sweet littlespot"
that many travelers tend to whiz by. She said the real secret
to Brownsville is that residents aren't anonymous.
"You just feel like if something happened to you, you'd
be taken care of," she said. "I can't imagine at this point
living anywhere else."
If you are considering moving to Brownsville or re-locating
your business here, try subscribing to The Brownsville Times,
our weekly newspaper. It's a good way to get to know our community.
