Est. 2026 Population: ~7,900 | Government Website: https://www.brownhelm.us/ | Schools: Amherst Exempted Village School District
Brownhelm Township is a historic and largely rural township in northwestern Lorain County with a 2020 census population of 7,877 — making it one of the larger townships in the county. The township holds a remarkable and singular place in American civil rights history: on April 2, 1855, John Mercer Langston — a Black man born in Virginia who later became a U.S. Congressman and the first Dean of Howard University Law School — was elected as the town clerk of Brownhelm Township, making it the first local government of any kind in the United States to elect a Black man to public office. This landmark event predated the Civil War by six years and reflects Brownhelm's deep abolitionist connections to nearby Oberlin. The township has a scenic, semi-rural character with access to the Vermilion River Reservation of the Lorain County Metro Parks system. The Mill Hollow Bacon Woods Park is a beloved natural recreation area located here. Students are primarily served by the Amherst Exempted Village School District, while the township enjoys a quiet, primarily residential and agricultural character.
*** Brownhelm Township, OH 44001