City Tour of Brooklyn Park


The early pioneers began settling this area--the territory west of the Mississippi river--in 1852 after the federal government opened it up to homesteading.

Early in 1852, the territorial legislature set in motion the law that organized Hennepin County. In the spring of 1852, the first claims to land in the new territory that would become Brooklyn Township were staked. There were no roads, only trails forged by the Ojibway Indians who lived in the area.

Washington Getchell and his son, Winslow, were among the settlers who staked a claim to what is now called Getchell Prairie in the southern part of the township. Around the same time, Pierre Bottineau and another group of settlers established claims on Bottineau Prairie, which later became Maple Grove and Osseo.

On July 2, 1852, Ezra Hanscom, a native of Maine, established his claim near the Getchells and completed his home in July 1853.

In late 1853 and early 1854, settlers from Michigan staked claim to this area and named it Brooklyn Township, after their home territory of Brooklyn, Michigan.

The Hanscom home, near Shingle Creek where it now crosses Noble Avenue, was one of the first in the area. The Hanscom home was the site of the first town meeting, on May 11, 1858, when Brooklyn Township elected officers.

Brooklyn Township was originally an area larger than the Brooklyn Park/Brooklyn Center of today. In 1860, two tiers of sections were cut off in the south, forming the towns of Brooklyn Center and Crystal Lake. What was left was known as Brooklyn Township.

Brooklyn Park Links
City of Brooklyn Park
Brooklyn Park Schools