At the time Nebraska was admitted to the union around 1867, the area around Ainsworth was inhabited by the Sioux and part of Holt county. The first settlers in the area were cattlemen and ranchers and they preceeded the arrival of the railroad. The state legislature established Brown county at the beginning of 1883 and Ainsworth was incorporated as a village later that year. There are some great events to attend in Ainsworth. The Annual National Country Music festival, held in August, is an unusual event. It has competitions for fiddlers, pickers, country bands, vocal groups, solo vocalists by gender and age, a song-writing contest and a Band Scramble. In addition there a Garage Sale-abration, square dancing, a horseshoe tournament, a coin scramble for children and two free pancake feeds. Each labor day you will find cowboys and cowgirls from Nebraska and other nearby states competing in the Mid-States Rodeo Association/Nebraska High School Rodeo Association sanctioned three day rodeo held together with the County Fair at the Johnstown fairgrounds.