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History · Brookville

Brookville’s post office opened in 1870, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Brookville Grade School. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1955 on, and the census since 1870.

1870first post office
1on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Brookville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Brookville began

When was Brookville founded?

1870

The Brookville post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 201 in 18702020 census: 247156 years
Founding year: the first Brookville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Brookville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 511 in 1880; 247 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Brookville’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Brookville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brookville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBrookville, Kansas. Twelve Hereford ste…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Brookville, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 511

Peaked at 511 in 1880; 247 people lived here in 2020.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brookville’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Brookville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Brookville.

Read it all →

Brookville was laid out in 1870 when the Kansas Pacific Railway was extended to that point. The first post office in Brookville was established in February 1870.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Brookville, 1870 to 1955

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870Post officeThe Brookville post office opens
  3. 1880CensusPopulation peaks at 511
  4. 20th century
  5. 1935In the archiveBrookville, Kansas. Twelve Hereford steers on the C. K. ranch
  6. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Brookville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
Brookville, Kansas. Twelve Hereford steers on the C. K. ranch1935Brookville, Kansas. Twelve Hereford steers on the C. …
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Original Brookville, Kansas school house2012Original Brookville, Kansas school houseDetailed map of2010Detailed map ofMap
On the map

Brookville on the map, 1955 to 1978

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brookville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Brookville on the 1955 USGS mapBrookville on the 1978 USGS map1955Brookville sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Brookville.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Brookville, Kansas. Twelve Hereford steers on the C. K. ranch
Retake this viewBrookville, Kansas. Twelve Hereford steers on the C. K. ranch, 1935

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Brookville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Brookville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Brookville Grade School
Brookville Grade School
Buildings
Brookville Grade SchoolBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Questions about Brookville’s history

What year was Brookville founded?

The Brookville post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Brookville?

One place: the Brookville Grade School (listed 1982).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.