Ainsworth, NE

Ainsworth is Brown County’s county seat, a Sandhills city whose center arrived with the railroad. Captain James E. Ainsworth, chief construction engineer for the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad, reached the townsite in 1882; the town was platted and incorporated as a village in 1883. Churches and a red-brick school followed quickly, and the first courthouse arrived in 1888. When fire destroyed that courthouse on Easter morning 1958, most records survived in the vaults, and a new courthouse opened in 1960.

These days the local map has a very practical lineup: Courthouse Park, the Sellors Barton Museum at US 20 and Main, a swimming pool, golf, camping, parks, and youth sports. The museum is open seasonally from Memorial Day through Labor Day, which fits Ainsworth’s role as a county center where Sandhills roads and civic business meet. If you’re orienting yourself, start downtown and then follow US 20; that gets you the courthouse history and the places residents actually use.