Living in the Brookings Area

Brookings is located in eastern South Dakota at the intersection of Interstate 29 and US Highway 14.

History
The city of Brookings was surveyed and platted in 1879 in preparation for the railroad, although the area had been inhabited by Native Americans for hundreds of years prior to Brookings’ “official” beginnings.

Named after Wilmot W. Brookings, a spirited pioneer who traveled to the unsettled Dakota Territory in the late 1850s, Brookings soon grew into a booming town and Dakota Agricultural College (now South Dakota State University) was founded in 1881.

More than 67,000 people live in Brookings and the surrounding counties of Deuel, Hamlin, Kingsbury, Lake, Moody, and Lincoln (MN).