Brookings

The county seat of Brookings County was platted October 3-4, 1879, when the Northwestern Railroad reached here. Some of the early store buildings were moved overland from Fountain and Medary, which soon became ghost towns. In November 1879, after a stiff election contest with Aurora and Volga, Brookings became the county seat, replacing Medary, the seat since May 9, 1873.

Residents of Brookings voted on May 2, 1881, to incorporate the village. A city charter was approved on May 9, 1883. The winters of 1880-81 and 1887-88 saw storms, blizzards, and much snow; rail communications stopped for many weeks. The territorial legislature on February 21, 1881 established a college here and residents donated 80 acres of land for the purpose.

Old Central was erected in 1884 and was used until 1962, when it and Old North were razed. Classes began with 35 students in September 1884. The first degree was granted in 1886. The growth of the town has been steady. The 1880 census showed 4965 in the county; 1890 showed 10,132 in the county, of whom 1518 lived in Brookings.

By 1910 there were 14,178 in the county and 2971 in Brookings. The 1960 census showed 20,046 for the county, of whom 10,558 lived in Brookings. For several decades the county held sixth place in the state’s population. The town, township, and county were all named for Judge Wilmot Wood Brookings (18301905), a pioneer, squatter, governor and promoter of Dakota Territory.

In the early decades Brookings was known as ‘the city of trees’ because of residents’ great interest in planting trees and beautifying the city.