History
In 1856 Thomas Weston Tipton moved to the town to serve as a minister. The railroads siphoned traffic away from the Missouri River's steamboats. Owing to its place in Nebraska history, Brownville is primarily a tourism attraction with several old houses opened for tours or converted into museums. This drove most of the population away and led to the county seat being transferred to Auburn, Nebraska in 1885. Omaha land magnates Herman Kountze and Augustus Kountze held large holdings in the early town.