Ainsworth Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

City · Brown County · County seat · Population 1,616 (2020 census) · ZIP 69210 · Founded 1882 · Peak population 2,256 (1980)

About Ainsworth

Ainsworth is a city of 1,616 (2020) and the seat of Brown County, at about 2,523 feet where the Sandhills meet the Niobrara country. US 20 runs through town as 4th Street, and NE 7 comes in from the south on Main Street. The Cowboy Trail follows the old railroad grade through town. Ainsworth is the service center for Brown, Keya Paha and Rock counties, with the county hospital, Ainsworth Community Schools, the library, a city pool and campground, a 9-hole golf course, a regional airport, the weekly Ainsworth Star-Journal and radio station KBRB. The town calls itself the Country Music Capital of Nebraska and greets visitors with “Welcome to the Middle of Nowhere.” Since August 10, 2026, the road north from US 20 past Keller Park and across the Niobrara is NE 7 (it was US 183), and US 183 now runs north from Bassett instead, so it no longer enters Brown County. Ainsworth is on Central Time.

History

Henry Woodward opened a log store at what became Main and Fourth in 1880, on the freighters' trail, and the post office moved here from the Bone Creek ranch. The Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad, a Chicago & North Western line, ran its first train into Ainsworth on June 11, 1882, and the town was named for Capt. James E. Ainsworth, the engineer who built the line through the county. The village was incorporated on December 11, 1883, and won the county seat at the election of July 9, 1883. The brick courthouse of 1888 burned on April 6, 1958; the present Modern courthouse at 148 W. 4th St. was finished in 1959 and occupied in February 1960.

During World War II the Ainsworth Army Air Field, 7 miles northwest, trained B-17 bomber crews; it is now the Ainsworth Regional Airport. The town hosted the World Horseshoe Pitching Championships in 1986. The population peaked at 2,256 in 1980. The railroad was abandoned in 1992 and its grade became the Cowboy Trail. The Star-Journal, in print in some form for about 142 years, was bought by a local group in December 2025 rather than closing.

Highways and trails through Ainsworth

Route	One way	Other way
US 204th Street through town; the Cowboy Trail runs alongside	West to Johnstown, Wood Lake and Valentine	East to Long Pine and Bassett
NE 7Main Street; runs east with US 20 for about 5.5 miles, then north on the former US 183 (renumbered Aug. 10, 2026)	South through the Sandhills to Brewster	North past Keller Park and across the Niobrara toward Springview

Nearby towns

Long Pine	about 8 mi east	US 20
Johnstown	about 10 mi west	US 20
Meadville	about 15 mi north	County roads (Meadville Road)
Bassett	about 16 mi east	US 20
Springview	about 20 mi north-northeast	NE 7
Wood Lake	about 20 mi west-northwest	US 20
Norden	about 25 mi north-northwest	US 20 and county roads
Valentine	about 42 mi west-northwest	US 20
Brewster	about 42 mi south	NE 7

Things to see

the Sellors-Barton Museum, a 1936 log cabin in Courthouse Park at 4th (US 20) and Main that also serves as a visitor center (free) · the Coleman House Museum of the Brown County Historical Society, moved in 2024 to 406 E. 4th St., with the old Henderson gas station beside it (tours by appointment, (402) 387-2626) · the 1958–59 Brown County Courthouse, 148 W. 4th St. · East City Park campground, 299 N. Richardson Dr.: tent and hookup sites April to October, a dump station, and the park around it · the 9-hole Ainsworth Municipal Golf Course, about 5 miles west on US 20 · Keller Park State Recreation Area, about 5 miles east and 9 miles north on NE 7: five trout and bass ponds on Bone Creek and 35 campsites · Bobcat WMA (893 acres, with trout water on Plum Creek) to the north, and Willow Lake WMA and Yellowthroat WMA to the south · Long Pine and its Long Pine Creek trestle, 8 miles east

Events in Ainsworth

National Country Music Festival
The National Country Music Festival is Ainsworth's signature summer event, held every year at East City Park on the second weekend of August.

Know of another event here? Tell us about it.

Schools and health care

Schools: Ainsworth Community Schools, 520 E. 2nd St., (402) 387-2333: elementary (PK–4) (402) 387-2083, middle (5–8) and high school (9–12) (402) 387-2082; Little Paws Preschool, 119 N. Main St., (402) 387-1035

Health care: Brown County Hospital, 945 E. Zero St., (402) 387-2800 (24-hour emergency); Ainsworth Family Clinic, (402) 387-1900

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; NEGenWeb Brown County (county history, 1890 gazetteer); Nebraska Who's Who (1940); History Nebraska (marker 557, Hidden Paradise); National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Department of Transportation (Aug. 10, 2026 renumbering, Long Pine bridge); Nebraska Game and Parks (Keller Park, Long Pine and Long Lake SRAs, WMAs, Cowboy Trail); The Nature Conservancy; Brown County; City of Ainsworth; Ainsworth Community Schools; Brown County Hospital; KOLN/10-11; Nebraska Life; Nebraska Public Media; KRVN. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.