Brown County, Nebraska

Brown County, Nebraska

County seat: Ainsworth · Created: February 19, 1883 · Named for: members of the 1883 Legislature named Brown · License plates: prefix 75 · Population: 2,903 (2020 census); peak 6,749 in 1920 · Area: 1,225 sq mi (1,221 land) · Time zone: Central

About Brown County

Brown County runs from the Niobrara River canyon on the north deep into the Sandhills lakes on the south. US 20, the Cowboy Trail and the old railroad cross it east–west through its three towns: Johnstown, Ainsworth, the county seat, and Long Pine, in the canyon of spring-fed Long Pine Creek. Raven and Koshopah were Sandhills post offices. The county borders Keya Paha County on the north, Rock on the east, Loup on the southeast, Blaine on the south and Cherry on the west.

The Legislature created the county on February 19, 1883, from a bill by Moses Kinkaid; at first it also took in present Keya Paha and Rock counties, which split off in 1884 and 1888. The petition named no one, and the county was named for the legislators named Brown who served that year. The Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad, part of the Chicago & North Western, had reached Long Pine in 1881 and Ainsworth in 1882, and Ainsworth won the county seat in July 1883. Long Pine became a division point with a roundhouse. Kinkaid homesteaders filled the Sandhills after 1904, and the population peaked at 6,749 in 1920. The railroad was abandoned in 1992 and is now the Cowboy Trail. The courthouse of 1888 burned in 1958 and was replaced the next year.

Towns of Brown County

Travel Corridors

US 20 — east–west through Johnstown, Ainsworth and Long Pine, with the Cowboy Trail alongside. US 20 Corridor →

NE 7 — north from Brewster to Ainsworth, east with US 20 for about 5.5 miles, then north past Keller Park and across the Niobrara to US 183 south of Springview. That northern leg was US 183 until August 10, 2026; US 183 now runs north from Bassett in Rock County and no longer enters Brown County. Older maps and addresses still show the old numbers.

Cameras: View Brown County cameras → · Road conditions: Nebraska 511

Things to See

The Heritage House Museum in Long Pine’s 1895 Miller Hotel, the county’s only National Register property, with marker 557 and the 595-foot Cowboy Trail bridge over Long Pine Creek; in Ainsworth, the Sellors-Barton Museum log cabin in Courthouse Park and the Coleman House Museum.

Outdoors

Trout fishing and camping at Long Pine State Recreation Area (29 non-electric sites) and Keller Park State Recreation Area on Bone Creek (five ponds, 24 electric and 11 basic sites); Sandhills lake camping at Long Lake State Recreation Area. Hike among the bison at The Nature Conservancy’s Niobrara Valley Preserve north of Johnstown. Hunt the Bobcat, Plum Creek Valley, Pine Glen, Keller Park, Long Pine, South Pine and Willow Lake wildlife management areas. Ride or walk the Cowboy Trail across the county. Golf at the 9-hole Ainsworth Municipal Golf Course.

Brown County Business Directory

Businesses within 20 miles of: Ainsworth · Long Pine · Johnstown · All listings →

Adjacent Counties

Keya Paha County (north) · Rock County (east) · Loup County (southeast) · Blaine County (south) · Cherry County (west).

Events

Each year: Middle of Nowhere Days in Ainsworth in mid-June, with a parade, trail ride and black-powder rendezvous; a country music festival in Ainsworth in early August; and the Brown County Fair and Rodeo at Johnstown over Labor Day weekend. Check dates locally before you go.