Brownstown developed along the National Road and later U.S. 40 as a place that served travelers. In 1830, New York native Ezra Griffith followed the National Road to Fayette County, Ill., and settled about two miles west of present-day Brownstown. His home became the local post office, polling place, and a stop for settlers headed west, and two hand-powered pumps on his homestead gave rise to Twin Pumps, where one pump served travelers and the other filled a livestock trough. In the 1850s, a family encamped at Twin Pumps lost a daughter to illness, and Griffith directed them to a knoll above Little Sandy Creek near the National Road, where the grounds became Griffith Cemetery and where a stone monument remembers the girl and Griffith is buried nearby. In the 1870s, the St. Louis, Vandalia and Terre Haute Railroad helped turn villages like Brownstown into thriving communities, and by 1880 Brownstown had 25 homes and a range of merchants. During the heyday of U.S. 40, Brownstown also became known for roadside businesses such as Dycus Oil Company and McCoy's Café. Texaco dealer Floyd Dycus built his service station in 1925, and after Paul Reece bought it in 1929 he expanded it to include truck repair and stocked supplies that made it a preferred stop for freight haulers. In 1936, Reece rented a neighboring building to Merle and Bess McCoy, whose café drew tourists and truckers seeking fuel and food at one stop; at its peak, McCoy's employed 30 people and seated 78 customers.