Brownville Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Brownville Area Cameras

Village · Nemaha County · Population 139 (2020 census) · ZIP 68321 · Founded 1854 · Peak population 1,309 (1880)

About Brownville

Brownville is a village of 139 on the Missouri River in eastern Nemaha County, where US 136 crosses into Missouri on the Brownville Bridge. Once the largest town in Nebraska Territory, it is now a historic district of museums, galleries and shops, home of the Brownville Village Theatre and the Brownville Concert Series.

History

Richard Brown of Holt County, Missouri, arrived on August 29, 1854, and the town was named for him; it was surveyed in 1856 and organized by the Territorial Legislature on February 23, 1856. It became the Nemaha County seat in 1855 and a busy steamboat landing. The U.S. Land Office opened here in 1857, the first telegraph line into Nebraska reached Brownville from St. Joseph on August 29, 1860, and Daniel Freeman filed the nation's first homestead claim here. Robert W. Furnas published the Nebraska Advertiser here and later became governor, and the state fair was held here in 1870 and 1871.

The first train arrived on February 1, 1875, but bonds for another railroad left the town in debt, and Auburn took the county seat in 1883. The population peaked at 1,309 in 1880. The Brownville Historic District was listed on the National Register in 1970. The 1939 Brownville Bridge, a cantilever truss, still carries US 136 to Missouri, and the retired Corps of Engineers dredge Captain Meriwether Lewis was brought here in 1977 as a museum; it is a National Historic Landmark. The river reached a record 45.05 feet in 2011, and in 2019 flooding closed the bridge for 216 days. Cooper Nuclear Station, which began operating in 1974, is about 3 miles south.

Highways and trails through Brownville

Route	One way	Other way
US 136Through the village; crosses the Missouri on the 1939 Brownville Bridge	East into Atchison County, Missouri, and I-29	West to Auburn (about 10 mi) and Tecumseh
NE 67Runs with US 136 for about 2.6 mi west of town	North to Peru	South past Nemaha toward Shubert and Indian Cave State Park

Nearby towns

Nemaha	about 4.1 mi south-southwest	NE 67
Aspinwall	about 7 mi south-southeast	NE 67
Peru	about 7 mi northwest	NE 67
Auburn	about 10 mi west	US 136
St. Deroin	about 11 mi south-southeast	NE 67 and S-64E
Shubert	about 11 mi south	NE 67
Nebraska City	about 22 mi north-northwest	US 75
Falls City	about 23 mi south	US 75

Things to see

The Brownville Historical Society museums, free, Friday–Sunday 1–4, April–October: Captain Bailey House on Main St., the Carson House, 231 Main St., the Depot & Railroad Museum and the Sage Memorial Museum, 213 Main St. · the Captain Meriwether Lewis dredge, 1 E. Water St. (National Historic Landmark; seasonal) · Brownville Village Theatre, 222 Water St., summer repertory since the 1960s · Brownville Concert Series, 126 Atlantic St. (monthly weekends April–December) · Flatwater Folk Art Museum, 609 Main St. · the Schoolhouse Art Gallery, 427 Main St. · Governor Furnas House, 230 S. 6th St. · Whiskey Run Creek Vineyard & Winery, 702 Main St. · The Lyceum, 228 Main St., meals and books · Brownville Riverside Park and boat ramp · Brownville Flea Market on Memorial Day weekend and in late September

Events in Brownville

Brownville Flea Market

More about this event: Events

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: Auburn Public Schools: Calvert Elementary, 2103 O St. (PK–5); Auburn Middle School and Auburn High School, 1829 Central Ave., Auburn

Health care: No clinic in Brownville; Nemaha County Hospital, 2022 13th St., Auburn, 402-274-4366 (critical access hospital, 24-hour emergency room)

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Nemaha County Beauty-Bounty (1967); History Nebraska; National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Game and Parks; Nemaha NRD; Nebraska Department of Transportation; city, village, school, library and museum websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.