White County, Indiana, was formed by an act of the Indiana State Legislature on February 1, 1834, becoming effective on April 1, 1834. The county was named in honor of Colonel Isaac White who was killed in the Battle of Tippecanoe on November 7, 1811. Monticello was made the County seat September 5, 1834.

The county is divided into Big Creek, Cass, Honey Creek, Jackson, Liberty, Lincoln, Monon, Prairie, Princeton, Round Grove, Union and West Point townships.

Prairie Township and the land around it is ideal for agriculture. Once the prairie was swampy and covered with giant blue stem grass which, according to early travelers, grew as high as a person's shoulder. The eastern portion of the township was heavily forested with oak, hickory, black walnut, poplar, ash, red cedar, willow, black locust, soft maple and paw-paw. Early settlers declared that on a single acre one could see as many as one hundred oaks from eighty to a hundred feet high. Moots and Spring Creeks drained the wooded area, but the prairie had to wait to be ditched and drained.

While the territory around Brookston was mapped by French explorers as early as 1679, it was not until 1829 that Royal Hazelton, the first settler, arrived and set up his one-room cabin a mile southeast of the future site of Brookston.

The town of Brookston is located near the center of Prairie Township, on the line of the old New Albany & Salem Railroad (later the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville or "Monon"). Benjamin Gonzales, Isaac Reynolds and Joel McFarland laid out and platted the town on April 26, 1853. Brookston is named in honor of James Brooks, who was President of the Railroad.

Eli Meyers built the first house within the plat and a person named Kane opened the pioneer store. John Bross soon opened another store and John Best established a blacksmith shop. The first store owner in the town was also the first Postmaster and the first railroad agent. Early businesses included: blacksmith, dry goods stores, grain elevators, grocers, boots and shoes, hardware, confectioners, drug stores, barber shops, furniture, harness, lumber and lath, livery and feed stores, cigar and tobacco, meat markets, stoves and tinware, an undertaker, hotel, millinery, and 3 doctors. There were two saloons, and also a calaboose in the town.

Springboro, east of Brookston, located on the Tippecanoe River, had dreams during the Wabash and Erie canal era of being a city. The railroad by-passed Springboro about 5 miles to the west. Brookston was founded. The importance of the railroad is reflected in the life and growth of the community. Its reputation as a trading and shipping center reflected on the settlement. Soon the prairielands developed into a prosperous agriculture community.

The first election of corporation officers in the Town of Brookston was held at the schoolhouse on March 23, 1867. After incorporation of the town there were substantial advances, including: a newspaper, a tile factory, a canning industry, cigar factory, bowling alley, bicycle shop, two jewelry stores, a bakery, a telephone company and an opera house. The opera house (now Jessup Paper Box), built by the French brothers, brought many plays and concerts to the community.

The Brookston Academy opened in the fall of 1867. Sparked by the able leadership of Brookston's citizen- physician, Dr. John Medaris, money was raised by subscription to build this educational center, which for many years set a high standard of education.

The Academy included primary, intermediate, and high school departments. In the high school both a general scientific and a university preparatory course were offered. Classes were offered in natural science, algebra, bookkeeping, physiology, grammar, commercial law, rhetoric, logic, geometry, botany, public speaking, German, French, Latin, political economy, trigonometry, navigation and surveying, numerology, astronomy, calculus, geology, zoology, and Greek.

It was located on the south side of the current Elementary building playground area. The cornerstone of the Academy can be seen in that area. A FEW of our older citizens are graduates of the Academy which closed in 1916, and many who grew up here still remember the Academy from their childhoods.