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Cowles is Webster County's smallest incorporated village, platted in 1878 when the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad extended its tracks to the site. The town was named for W. D. Cowles, a general freight agent for the railroad who died in 1876, shortly before the line reached the area. Cowles had its own post office from 1879 until it closed in 1960; the village has no ZIP code of its own today, and mail is routed through the neighboring Blue Hill delivery area. Cowles's population peaked at 224 in 1930 and has declined steadily since, standing at 21 residents as of the 2020 Census — a small, quiet corner of Webster County with little documented history beyond its railroad-era founding.
Cowles, platted in 1878 along the Burlington & Missouri Railroad and named for railroad freight agent W. D. Cowles, is Webster County's smallest incorporated village. Its own post office closed in 1960, and mail is now routed through neighboring Blue Hill.