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Brownsville

Ghost town · Poweshiek County, Iowa

Montezuma quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1979, 1:24,000)
Montezuma quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1979, 1:24,000) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Brownsville is a ghost town in Poweshiek County, Iowa. It is the only former community in Poweshiek County recorded on the federal names register, out of 226 across Iowa.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Brownsville as a historical populated place on the Montezuma topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 41.5125° N, 92.5563° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleMontezuma
Elevation873 ft
Nearest living townBarnes City, IA
Distance to it4.5 miles
GNIS feature ID464224
Coordinates41.51250, -92.55630

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What's there now

Brownsville is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Barnes City, IA (population 140), about 4.5 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 873 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.