You are right, growing up in Maine eggs were brown, with white eggs being a specialty item brought in for Easter! Mom would get the white ones if she could before they sold out for us to color, but there were many years that we colored brown eggs
Most eggs here in the south are white. The exception being "upscale" eggs, those with claims of being cage free or free range. I guess people equate the brown eggs with being a more "natural" egg.
You are also correct about the shell, at least in my experience. When I buy the white store eggs, its very easy for me to do a one handed crack and dump without breaking the yolk, but when I get the local farm eggs at the Farmer's market (mostly brown, but assorted colors), I usually have to use two hands because the thicker shells are harder to crack and open up.