Brookings’ post office opened in 1913, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 13% of U.S. towns · #115 of 142 in Oregon. What drives it
Most of Brookings was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Its Register listing is the Central Building. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1920.
The Brookings post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1951. Another post office, Ferry (1888), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 515 in 19202020 census: 6,744113 years
How did Brookings get its name?
Brookings was named after John E. Brookings, president of the Brookings Lumber & Box Company, who founded the city in 1908.
How historic is Brookings?
D
More historic than 13% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brookings is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #115 of 142 in Oregon. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Brookings’ overall grade.
Oregon towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Oregon town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Brookings’ 1.5 sits near the middle of its state (42% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1951.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Brookings’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1906, the Brookings Timber Company hired William James Ward, a graduate in civil engineering and forestry, to come to the southern Oregon Coast and survey its lumbering potential. After timber cruising the Chetco and Pistol River areas for several years, he concluded that conditions were favorable for extensive lumbering operations and advised the Brookings Timber Company accordingly to acquire a suitable townsite to accommodate both a mill and a shipping center.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and places now gone
Brookings’s post office has been open since 1913. Another post office, Ferry, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Ferry
1888–1898
Brookings
1913–today
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Fern Post Officepost officeFerry Post Officepost office
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Brookings’ history
What year was Brookings founded?
The Brookings post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1951.
How does Brookings rank for history?
Brookings is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #115 of 142 in Oregon. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Brookings?
One place: the Central Building (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Brookings?
0.8% of Brookings’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1988.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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