Page 11 - Brookings, SD Historic Preservation Plan

South Dakota’s early agricultural pioneers represented diverse old
world cultures: Scandinavians, Bohemians, German-Russians, Irish,
English and Hutterites. Many immigrants were religious, thrifty,
hardworking people who developed a strong attachment to the land.
Kinship and nationality ties drew these plainsmen together. The
Hutterites continue to operate collective farms, and like the Amish,
remain separate from outside society. Religious persecution drove
the Hutterites from Moravia and Tyrol to Hungary, the Ukraine, and
in the 1870s to eastern South Dakota. Following the gold rush in the
western part of Dakota, a flood of settlers into the east river region Brookings High School; from the South
swelled the population from the 80,000 to 325,000 between 1878 Dakota Digital Archives (South Dakota
and 1887. State Historical Society)

Philo Hall, Brookings village attorney, filed papers in April 1881, to
incorporate from a village to a city. In the same year, the Dakota Ter-
ritorial Legislature established the Dakota Agricultural College, the
state’s only land-grant school, at Brookings, today the South Dakota
State University. Main Avenue, which became the single axis that
dominated the town, boasted 70 businesses. The community evolved
as a center of a diversified agricultural area and seat of learning. The
legislature granted approval of incorporation in March 9, 1883.

Rapid expansion of the Dakota Boom led to calls for division of the
territory at the 46th parallel and separate statehood for the southern
half of Dakota Territory. The southern section held constitutional Cornerstone Ceremony for the
conventions in 1883 and 1885; the latter established the State of Da- Methodist Church in 1904; from the
kota. Dual statehood based on a division at the 46th parallel received South Dakota Digital Archives (South
congressional approval in 1889, and both North and South Dakota Dakota State Historical Society)
entered the Union simultaneously.

Early settlers quickly recognized the aesthetic, civilized appearance
mature trees bring to neighborhoods. On Arbor Day in 1892, Brook-
ings citizens planted 2,300 trees on the university campus, on bou-
levards, and in yards. By 1900, Brookings was known as The City of
Trees. Open green areas and generous tree canopies were an early
priority for the community, and their current abundance and health
is ensured through substantial city funding. The trees unify diverse
architecture in residential and commercial historic districts, and in
great contrast to the open treeless prairie surrounding the communi-
ty, these verdant canopies clearly convey a sense of arrival and stabil-
ity within Brookings.

Early newspaper accounts also describe Brookings as the Philadel-
phia of South Dakota - The City of Homes. Brookings’ diverse archi-
tectural heritage offers vivid contrasts, from stately mansions to
smaller-scale homes. The community’s historic resources include
numerous in-town barns and grain elevators, which anchor Main
Avenue to the rail line. These assets today attest to the importance of
agriculture in the community’s legacy.

By 1907, the Dakota Agricultural College changed its name to South
Dakota State College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts, and there
were 22 departments on campus. Trees, hitching rails, and telephone
poles with cross-arms frame the business district in early 1900 pho-
tos. A street light suspended from a metal arch provided illumination
for each block. Streets were renamed in 1900 and 31 blocks of con-
crete and street paving installed in 1919. In 1900, the population of
the city was 2,346. There were about 4,500 inhabitants in 1919.

Final Draft: February 2021 7