[8] Also in Brookings are the South Dakota Art Museum, the Children's Museum of South Dakota, the annual Brookings Summer Arts Festival, and the headquarters of several manufacturing companies and agricultural operations.

[9] The county and city were both named after one of South Dakota's pioneer promoters, Wilmot Brookings.

This trip began in January 1858, and the two soon encountered a blizzard that froze Brookings's feet, which both had to be amputated.

He then was appointed superintendent of a road that was to be built from the Minnesota state line west to the Missouri River about 30 miles north of Ft. Pierre.

It was during this road's construction that Brookings came into contact with land that was part of this county at the time.

Along with Sioux Falls and Flandreau, Medary was one of the first three European settlements established in South Dakota.

In 1869, a group of 10 Norwegian pioneers moved west into the Dakota Territory and resettled the area of Medary, about four and a half miles south of present-day Brookings.

The county of Brookings was formally organized in Medary in Martin Trygstad's cabin on July 3, 1871.

Two other small settlements, Oakwood and Fountain, appeared in the Brookings County area around this time.

When the businessmen of Medary and Fountain found out that the railroad had no plans to run through the two towns, they began a push to find a central location.

Many private meetings and much effort on the part of the men of Medary and Fountain led the railroad to lay its tracks through what became the city of Brookings.

In a letter sent to Chicago on September 30, 1879, Land Commissioner Charles E. Simmons communicated the layout of the series of towns in Brookings County for the railroad to pass through: Aurora, Brookings, and Volga.

Many merchants of Medary and Fountain packed up their businesses and belongings and moved to Brookings, which was surveyed and platted on October 3 and 4, 1879.

Fountain ceased to exist; Medary and Oakwood remained for a while but eventually faded away.

The railroad crossed the Minnesota state line into Brookings County on October 2, 1879.

[14][15] Snowfall occurs mostly in light to moderate amounts, totaling 35.8 inches (91 cm).

The two largest ancestries in the city are: As of 2010, 60.7% of Brookings's population claimed affiliation with a religious congregation.

According to the city's 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report,[22] the largest employers in the city are: Bel Brands USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Paris-based multinational Fromageries BEL or Bel Group, began commercial construction of a 170,000-square-foot Babybel cheese production plant in 2014 in the city's Foster Addition north of the Swiftel Center.

[25] The Brookings School District[26] serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade.

[29] The Brookings Register publishes daily Monday through Friday morning with a focus on local news and sports.