Breckenridge was platted in 1857, and named for John Cabell Breckinridge, a U.S. senator from Kentucky and the 14th Vice President of the United States.

Breckenridge was also staunchly pro-slavery and was a Major General in the Confederate Army.

[9] The city contains one property listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the 1928 Wilkin County Courthouse.

[11] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.596 square miles (6.72 km2), all land.

As a result, the Breckenridge station was served by numerous passenger trains through the years until 1979.

The city continues to see freight rail traffic on the now BNSF line.

The top nine reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were German (43.1%), Norwegian (23.0%), Polish (7.2%), Irish (6.5%), English (5.8%), French (except Basque) (1.9%), Italian (0.3%), Scottish (0.0%), and Subsaharan African (0.0%).

There were 1,658 housing units at an average density of 655.6 inhabitants per square mile (253.1/km2).

36.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 1,582 housing units at an average density of 674.0 inhabitants per square mile (260.2/km2).