Joseph Brown House Ruins

The Joseph R. Brown State Wayside Rest is a National Scenic Byway Wayside Rest area. It is located on Renville County Highway 15, south of Sacred Heart, Minnesota, United States.

Joseph Brown House Ruins
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Ruins of Joseph R. Brown's house, burned in 1862
Show map of Minnesota Show map of the United States
Location	Sacred Heart Township, Renville County, Minnesota, USA
Nearest city	Sacred Heart, Minnesota
Coordinates	44°41′47″N 95°19′22″W
Built	1861
Architect	Leopold Wohler
NRHP reference No.	86002838[1]
Added to NRHP	August 3, 1986

The Wayside Rest displays the granite ruins of Joseph R. Brown's home from 1862. Brown, his multiracial wife and twelve children lived in this home, which was a center of hospitality along the Minnesota River Valley. The three-story home was then considered a mansion compared to typical pioneer homes. It was destroyed during the Dakota War of 1862 on August 19, 1862. His family was spared because of his wife's Dakota heritage.^[2][3]

Brown was a politician, inventor, publisher, and Indian Agent.^[4]

Joseph Brown house ruins were used to illustrate the WPA's Renville County edition of "Inventory of County Archives of Minnesota"