Brownell, Kansas, Main Street, courtesy of Google Maps.
Brownell, Kansas, is a tiny town in Waring Township of Ness County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 23, and it has a total area of 0.20 square miles, all of which is land.
When this town was founded, it was first called Vansburgh. A post office was established on January 5, 1880.
The town’s name was changed to Brownell on May 1, 1888. A station on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, it was named for Mr. Brownell, a railroad official.
Old Main Street in Brownell, Kansas, early 1900s.
In 1910, Brownell was still a station on the Missouri Pacific Railroad. At that time, it had a bank, a money order post office with one rural delivery route, express and telegraph offices, telephone connections, a thriving retail trade, Baptist and Methodist churches, good public schools, and a population of 200.
Old Missouri Pacific Railroad Depot in Brownell, Kansas.
Brownell’s population peaked at 207 in 1930.
Brownell became a part of the Ransom school district in 1960. The Brownell School closed in 1969. USD 106 was formed in 2004 by the consolidation of Ransom USD 302 and Bazine USD 304.
Today, the community is served by the Western Plains United School District 106 in Ransom, Kansas.
Though the community is tiny and sparsely populated, it still has a post office, several grain elevators, and a few buildings.
Brownell, Kansas Post Office by Kathy Alexander.
Brownell is about 16 miles northeast of Ness City, the county seat.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, September 2025.
Also See:
Sources:
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Wikipedia