The Village of Brownsdale was legally established on July 7th, 1856, although the first settlers came in the spring of 1855. At this time 3 Norwegian families filed claims to land. Here they built sod homes that measured 10 feet by 12 ft. which was the requirement at that time. The 3 families of the original settlers sold their claims and moved west in the spring of 1856. Among the first to come here in the spring of 1856 were the Brown brothers, Hosmer and Andrew. Only a trail ran east to west through town which they named Main Street. The road section north to south was called Mill St. because the Brown Brothers were setting up a saw mill on the back of the creek North of the Village. But due to very wet weather and the difficulty with transporting the new mill from over East the saw mill was placed on the South bank of the creek.