History :

The original town of Brookings was established by John E. Brookings, cousin to Robert S. Brookings of the Brookings Institute, when he moved his lumber business from the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California in 1913.  One of the first steps Brookings took was to hire a renowned architect,  Bernard Maybeck, to lay out the street design for what is now the core area of the city.     

The history of the area was chronicled when the Brookings-Harbor Rotary contracted with Edward G. Olsen to compile a "social history of the Chetco Community Area." Although the book is long out of print (copyright 1979) much of the information can be found online on the Curry Coastal Pilot's web site.

Beginning with stories of the Chetco Indian People, the book follows development in the Brookings-Harbor Area through the late 1970s.  Currently the Rotarians are updating the book to add history to date.  When this effort is complete the book will be reprinted.

Since incorporating in 1951, Brookings has grown to a population of 6,050 and covers an area of 2,435 acres.  It is the largest city in Curry County.  Because of it's mild climate, beautiful coastline and quality of life, in the late 1980's Brookings was "discovered" as a desirable place to retire and much of the population growth has been retirees. This trend has been fed by magazine and other media recognition of Brookings as being a desirable place to retire.