Brown

Formed August 25, 1855 (5^th county)

Brown County (9,511), Hiawatha (3,276)

The Classical Revival masonry and concrete building sits on a square at Oregon, 6^th, Utah, and 7^th streets and was built in 1925.  United States Highway 159 is five blocks to the east of the site.  The building designers are William E. Hulse and Company.  The interior has marble stairs and the exterior features a fallen soldier memorial.  An earlier courthouse dated from 1879 in Hiawatha, the only county seat.  The county was an original county (5^th county) established on August 25, 1855.  The county is named for Territorial Legislator Orville H. Browne.  The county seat is named for the Native American chief. 

Brown County government consists of a sheriff, a clerk, an attorney, a treasurer, a coroner, and an appraiser (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Four District Court Judges serve Brown, Doniphan, Marshall, and Nemaha counties (judicial.) The county is in northeast Kansas on the border with Nebraska and Missouri.  Kansas City, Kansas is southeast and Omaha, Nebraska is north of the county.  The county center is 8.8 miles Southeast of Hiawatha nearer Willis.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Nebraska and Doniphan, Atchison, Jackson, and Nemaha counties. 

The area of the county is 571 square miles.  It is 93 out of 105 in the state.  It ranks 41 out of 105 in population in the state.  It has a density of 16.7 persons per square mile making it 38 out of 105 in the state.  Brown County has 62.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 36 goes east to west through the county from Doniphan County to Nemaha County.  United States Highway 73 passes north to south from Nebraska to Atchison County.  United States Highway 75 travels north to south from Nemaha County to Jackson County.  United States Highway 159 comes in from the north joined with United States Highway 73 and splits just before exiting south into Atchison County.  The county is square and Hiawatha is slightly north of the geographical county center.  Hiawatha is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 34.4% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced HIE-A-WA-THA.