Brookings was surveyed and platted on October 3 and 4, 1879, in preparation for the railroad. The railroad track and train reached Brookings' Main Street on October 18, 1879, and the railroad station opened a month later.

The community was named after Wilmot W. Brookings, a spirited pioneer promoter, who had been a member of the Squatter Territorial Legislature and was later elected Squatter Governor.

The area settlements of Fountain, Oakwood, and Medary had been bypassed by the railroad and many merchants of those towns packed up their businesses and moved to Brookings.