While in Spanish Fork, Brimhall was involved with the city's civil affairs. He became city marshal in 1875, but only for a short period of time and was later appointed as "auditor of accounts" for 2 terms. He also organized a literary and debate society and helped build a schoolhouse called "The Young Men's Academy". He eventually became principal of the academy. After being involved in most of the educational events in Utah County, Brimhall became interested in BYA and decided to begin attending in 1876. In 1877, Brimhall graduated from Maeser school, but often struggled to get good scores on teacher examinations and other academic assessments. In 1883, Brimhall was elected as the district superintendent of Utah County schools and oversaw many other educational programs in Utah County and in Salt Lake City. He worked closely with Warren Newton Dusenberry, who was an instructor at BYA. Brimhall also worked with the Sunday School organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and taught classes for the church's Young Men Mutual Improvement Association. He published some articles in the "Contributor Magazine" and was on the local board of examiners. He eventually moved from Spanish Fork to Provo in order to take his place as head of the Provo community schools.