For thousands of years varying cultures of indigenous peoples settled by the Missouri River.

At the time of European contact, historical tribes in the area included the Missouri, Osage, Kaw, Otoe and others.

Following the Louisiana Purchase and the end of the French colonial period the area saw a large influx of immigrants from the U.S., especially Kentucky and Tennessee.

The new land owners planted and cultivate crops similar to those in the Upper South: hemp and tobacco.

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.

[7] 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.

The first school was established at Brunswick in June 1840 with approximately thirty-five students and a one-room log schoolhouse.

The Brunswicker, the town's first newspaper, began publication in October 1847 and continues today, making it one of the state's oldest.

[5] After the Civil War and the loss of their slaves, farmers shifted to other less labor-intensive, crops.

However, in 1880 Chariton County still led the state of Missouri in tobacco production, with 14 million pounds harvested.

After nearly ten years of delay due to the war, the railroad finally reached Brunswick in 1867, reducing the reliance on steamboats to transport goods and people.

Also in 1965 the U.S. Coast Guard built a small base near Brunswick to service increased river traffic; however, the facility was relatively short-lived, closing in March 1973.

[5] Following World War II, Brunswick became the center of an area of pecan groves.

It was constructed in 1982 by George James in honor of the Starking Hardy Giant pecan, which he discovered on his property in 1947.

[5] In 1949 Missouri reorganized public education, with the state board of education consolidating or reorganizing many small rural schools into larger districts, this gave birth to the aforementioned Brunswick R-II district.

The district, in student count, is the second largest in Chariton County, trailing Salisbury schools.