The first settlers at Lake Hendricks were 31 Norwegians who arrived on July 14, 1873, with 11 covered wagons and 30 cattle after leaving Houston County, Minnesota, and Allamakee and Winneshiek counties, Iowa, on May 14, 1873, traveling roughly along Highway 16 to Dell Rapids, then turning north and briefly staying in Medary; they rested on Sundays and held religious services, and no one brought a gun. The colony settled on the north side of Lake Hendricks in sections 6, 8, 10, 18, and 20, and 12 in Minnesota, living for a time in dugouts and sod houses. On Oct. 26, 1874, they organized Singsass Lutheran Church, the first permanent congregation in Brookings County; they bought the county's first bell in 1878, and the first school term began in 1879. Prairie Farm post office opened on Jan. 4, 1876, on the southeast corner of 8-112-47. In 1875, five settlers plowed a furrow marking the road to Canby, Minnesota, and five others continued it to Fountain and Medary, now ghost towns. Each spring and fall, a week's trip was made to the nearest flour mills at Dell Rapids or Lynd, Minnesota. The 31 colonists bore the surnames Bogen, Bjorgen, Digre, Fjeseth, Hanson, Knutson, Kosberg, Rogness, Trooien, and Winsness, and by 1958 their descendants numbered about 700, with more than 550 still living, many in the vicinity. Brookings County had been home to roving Indians until 1862. Nicollet and Fremont visited Oakwood Lakes in July 1838, leaving the first reliable record. The land east of the Big Sioux was ceded by the Santee Sioux in 1851 and the land to the west by the Yankton Sioux in 1858. A breastwork was made at Oakwood Lakes in 1859 and occupied again in 1862-64. Nobles Wagon Road was built through the county in 1857, crossing the Big Sioux at an improved ford, and Medary existed there in 1857-58 until Sioux forced its abandonment. Permanent settlement began nearby in 1869 with 10 Norwegians, and Medary served as county seat from 1871 to 1879. Another colony of 31 settled at Lake Hendricks in July 1873. Population grew rapidly after 1877, reaching 4965 in 1880 and 10,132 in 1890. Brookings County was created in 1862 and named for Wilmot W. Brookings (1830-1905), a pioneer judge and legislator. Until 1873 it included parts of Moody, Lake, and Kingsbury Counties. It was organized on July 3, 1871, in Martin N. Trygstad's cabin four miles northwest of Medary. Most towns began in 1879 when the Northwestern R. R. crossed the county, and others when roads pushed north in 1884; Medary, Oakwood, and Fountain became ghost towns, and Brookings became the county seat. In 1881 State College was established in Brookings and opened in 1884.