Browntown Historic District included in nine new sites added to Virginia Landmarks Register

A June 17 press release from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR) announced the approval of the addition of nine sites around the commonwealth to the Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR). Among those sites added to Virginia’s list of “places of historic, architectural, archaeological, and cultural significance” is the nearly 75-acre Browntown Historic District in southern Warren County.

Photo credit: Dan Pezzoni, 2021

And since we are in Warren County, we will lead with the Browntown Historic District summary also found in the final section of the below press release:

The nearly 75-acre Browntown Historic District encompasses most of a village located in a valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southern Warren County. Browntown coalesced around the Brown–Updike Mill during the early-to-mid 1800s. The picturesque settlement took its present crossroads form after the 1874 opening of Cover Tannery, propelling its growth, which followed in the early 1900s with the establishment of stave and tool-handle factories that sustained the village economy. The historic district encompasses 80 contributing buildings, mostly houses, as well as churches, stores, barns, a schoolhouse, railroad depot, and archaeological sites.

Click here to see all the new historic sites.