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History · Brookings Township

1 of Brookings Township’s places is on the National Register

Most of Brookings Township was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1964 on, and the census since 1890.

1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Brookings Township’s archive · credits on each photo
The story

How Brookings Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Brookings Township.

Read it all →

The county and city were both named after one of South Dakota's pioneer promoters, Wilmot Brookings. Brookings set out for the Dakota Territory in June 1857. He arrived at Sioux Falls on August 27, 1857, and became one of the first settlers there. He and his group represented the Western Town Company. After a time in Sioux Falls, Brookings and a companion set out for the Yankton area to locate a town in an area that was soon to be ceded by the Native Americans. This trip began in January 1858, and the two soon encountered a blizzard that froze Brookings's feet, which both had to be amputated.

ChaptersPioneerMedaryRailroad

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Brookings Township, 1880 to 1964

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880In the archiveA Harvest field
  3. 1898In the archiveSouth Dakota - men and women harvesting wheat on Oleson farm, Brookings
  4. 20th century
  5. 1902In the archiveJudge Wilmot Wood
  6. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Brookings Township, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1890s5 items
A Harvest field1880A Harvest fieldSouth Dakota - men and women harvesting wheat on Oleson farm, Brookings1898South Dakota - men and women harvesting wheat on Oles…South Dakota - men and women harvesting wheat on Oleson farm, Brookings1898South Dakota - men and women harvesting wheat on Oles…Harvest scene near Brookings, S.D1898Harvest scene near Brookings, S.DHarvest scene near Brookings, S.D1898Harvest scene near Brookings, S.D
1900s1 item
Judge Wilmot Wood1902Judge Wilmot Wood
1910s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Brookings Township on the map, 1964 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brookings Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Brookings Township on the 1964 USGS mapBrookings Township on the 1981 USGS map1964Brookings sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Brookings Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

A Harvest field
Retake this viewA Harvest field, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Brookings Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 5 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
2005
Vostad Farm
Vostad Farm
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Wisconsin Dairy Barn1
All 1 listings
Vostad FarmDistrict · listed 2005

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Brookings Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,000190019201940196019802000202023,377

Grew from 1,518 people in 1890 to 23,377 in 2020, more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brookings Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Sundahl Trailer CourtSunnyview
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Brookings Township
First LutheranScandinavian Lutheran

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Brookings Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewA Harvest field: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Brookings27 historic placesB+Volga TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSterling Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAurora TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Brookings Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Brookings Township?

One place: the Vostad Farm (listed 2005).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.