A Very Brief and Terribly Incomplete History of Brownsville.
It may not look it now, but this area was once the most important community in Surrey.
In 1861 Ebenezer Brown, a liquor merchant and saloon owner in New Westminster, preempted the Kwantlen people's fishing camp on the south shore of the Fraser River directly across from New Westminster.
By 1864, Brown had built a wharf, known as Brown's Landing, as well as the first hotel, The Brownsville Hotel. The roads of Surrey, like those of the Fraser Valley in general, focused on New Westminster, at the time the largest city on the mainland and by 1875, Mud Bay (Scott) Road from Mud Bay and a connection with the road to Ladner, the Semiahmoo Road to the U.S. border, and Yale Road to the Fraser Valley and Fraser Canyon, as well as the Telegraph Trail, all came together here at Brownsville. At first, crossings were made
by canoe and rowboat, but this was a
hinderance to trade.
In 1883 New Westminster and Surrey Councils agreed on a joint ferry service across the Fraser. The joint authority sublet the charter and the K de K, built, owned, and operated by Captain Angus Grant, went into operation that fall. It was large enough to transport a couple of teams with wagons across the river. In 1889, the K de K was replaced by the steam ferry Surrey.
Some sample fares from the time....
Passengers over 10 years, 20 cents, 35 return.
Wagons, from 50 cents empty to 
$1 with two horses and a
load.
Buggies and sleighs, 25 to 75 cents.
Sheep, pigs, and other animals under one year, 10 cents.
Oxen, cows, heifers, horses or mules, 25 cents each.
Reaper or mower with one span of horses, $2.
Threshing machine, $2.50
General freight, 50 cents per ton.
The ferry service brought Brownsville into prominence. At its height Brownsville had four hotels along the road and docks leading to the ferry terminal. It had a general store, stables, salons, and a Post Office. In 1891 the New Westminster Southern Railway made Brownsville its northern terminus as the Canadian Pacific monopoly clause prevented railway access across the Fraser River. The railway's arrival brought the world to Brownsville, and no Surrey community possessed greater power or influence, confirmed by the installation, in 1893, of Surrey's first telephone.
Unfortunately it would not last, and, with the opening of the Fraser River bridge in 1904, the roads and the railways that had made Brownsville such an important community now largely passed it by, and Brownsville began its decline as a community centre.