Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Brownlee

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Whites General Store, Brownlee, NebraskaPhoto: Stewmag · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Brownlee

Brownlee’s post office opened in 1988

Below: maps from 1951 on.

1988first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Stewmag · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Brownlee began

When was Brownlee founded?

1988

The Brownlee post office opened in 1988, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1338 years
Founding year: the first Brownlee post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Brownlee’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Brownlee are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Brownlee’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Brownlee came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Brownlee.

Read it all →

Founded in 1886 by John R. Lee and William B. Lee, immigrants from Ireland. Brownlee was given the maiden name of the founder's grandmother.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Brownlee, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Brownlee, Nebraska (4)2013Brownlee, Nebraska (4)Brownlee, Nebraska (2)2013Brownlee, Nebraska (2)Brownlee, Nebraska (1)2013Brownlee, Nebraska (1)Brownlee School (Nebraska) District 522013Brownlee School (Nebraska) District 52Amer01082013Amer0108BrownleeCH2009BrownleeCH
On the map

Brownlee on the map, 1951 to 1985

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

Brownlee on the 1951 USGS mapBrownlee on the 1985 USGS map1951Brownlee sheet · 1:62,500

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

Questions about Brownlee’s history

What year was Brownlee founded?

The Brownlee post office opened in 1988, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.