County of town: Chariton County
Location of city: US 24, and Grand River
Named After: Brunswick, England
Elevation: 650'
Population: 837 (2013)
"The original town of Brunswick was laid out in 1836 by James Keyte. Keyte, an English immigrant and Methodist minister, was also the founder of Keytesville, Missouri, the county seat of Chariton County. It was named after Brunswick, in England. The original town plat was about 500 yards south of its current location, but due to changes in the Missouri and Grand rivers, the location is now underwater. A Mr. Keyte established the first store in the town, and its first industry, a sawmill. Early growth was slow for the community, with the population estimated at around 125 citizens by 1840. However, in the early 1840s a large influx of new residents increased the size of the town and scope of business offerings. They included a hotel, a wagon maker, brick factory, and a pork packing facility. Doctor Edwin Price, brother of famed Confederate general Sterling Price, was an early settler.
In the decades leading up to the American Civil War surrounding counties had no railroad over which to ship or receive goods and crops, thus Brunswick with its steamboat access, became a regional trading center. In 1849 Brunswick recorded 534 arrivals and departures by steamboats. The first school was established at Brunswick in June 1840 with approximately thirty-five students and a one-room log schoolhouse. It was also in 1840 that the first wave of German immigrants arrived in the Brunswick area. Another influx of Germans took place in 1842. The Brunswicker, the town's first newspaper, began publication in October 1847 and continues today, making it one of the state's oldest. Brunswick's first bank, a branch of the Merchants Bank of St. Louis, opened." ~ Wikipedia