Brown Township lies in the extreme northwestern part of the county and, in point of area, is one of the largest. It is the fifth in size and contains 41,560 acres. It was named for General Brown, who served with distinction in Canada during the Revolutionary war. It is almost a perfect rectangle in shape and lies 2,000 feet above sea level. The face of the country is wild and rugged, with towering mountains on each side of Pine Creek, which divides it into two almost equal parts. The Fall Brook division of the New York Central Railroad traverses its entire length.

Jacob Lamb is credited with being the first settler, and he was followed by William Blackwell, Andrew Gamble, John Morrison and Jacob Warren. The Tomb family also settled in what is now Brown Township. It was set off from Mifflin May 8, 1815, and is therefore one of the oldest of the townships which were erected after Lycoming became a separate county. In the early days the region of what is now Brown Township was a marvelous hunting and fishing section, and indeed it is to this day. It was also one of the centers of the lumber industry, as the mountains were covered with a magnificent growth of pine and hemlock. Numerous sawmills were erected in the township at various points and a great quantity of logs was floated down to the boom at Williamsport. There is very little farming land in the township, all of it being along the bottoms of Pine Creek and a little on the mountain plateaus. In the early days it was also a famous place for rattlesnakes. Indeed, they were so numerous that upon one occasion a party going up the stream found them in such quantities that they were compelled to spend the night in their canoe because no place could be found on the ground that was free from them. Daniel Callahan was another early settler, and he and his sons, became famous hunters, as were also many others of the original pioneers.

Several thrifty villages have grown up in Brown Township, notably Cedar Run and Slate Run, both of which are United States postoffices, the former being opened December 13, 1858, with Lucius Truman as the first postmaster, and the latter January 13, 1885, with Rosa C. Tome as the first postmaster. The schools and churches of the township are ample for the accommodation of the people and all of them are of a high character. The population in 1920 was only 275, most of it located in the villages along Pine Creek.