The Brookings Register Archive

The Brookings Register is one of the few continuously published newspapers in South Dakota. The first issues were printed under the Brookings County Sentinel masthead, beginning March 30, 1882. The paper was published weekly on Thursdays in an eight-column, four-page layout for an annual subscription of $1.50. Its printing office was located in Brookings, Dakota Territory, under the ownership of George Breed and Charles D. A. Wright. By March 1883, the Sentinel moved its weekly publication day to Friday.

As an introduction to the new paper, the Sentinel editors greeted readers by saying, "In this the first issue of the Brookings County Sentinel, we wish to extend to all upright citizens, and we believe such inhabit our county, the hand of mutual friendship. We are here to represent the whole county of Brookings, from all parts of which we wish to establish a regular correspondence." The Sentinel's first issue included market reports and a mortuary report featuring the death of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, along with articles on beer drinking and gerrymandering and a "News in Brief" column. Advertisements were for various businesses in Brookings and the nearby towns of Aurora and Elkton. Ads were listed for the following: stables, barbers, implements, meat markets, photographers, jewelers, harness shops, banks, dry goods, painters, physicians, insurance, lumber, boot makers, and hardware.

W. E. Whiting and H. A. Whiting became the Sentinel owners/editors/publishers in May 1888. The paper gradually updated to a six-column, six-page issue by June 1889. George Breed soon repurchased the business, however, and on March 14, 1890, the fifty-second and final issue of the Brookings County Sentinel was published.

George Breed began as a newspaper apprentice in Wisconsin, eventually working for several news publications there and in Illinois. He came to Brookings in 1880 to work for the already established Brookings County Press. He was deeply involved in the Brookings community. In 1890, he joined Paul Dutcher in establishing the Brookings Register, merging his Brookings County Sentinel with that publication.

Paul Dutcher also started his journalism career in Wisconsin and worked in Iowa prior to coming to Dakota Territory in 1884. He moved to Brookings in 1890 to join George Breed in developing the Brookings Register. A staunch Republican, Dutcher was very active in the community.

The Brookings Register started weekly publication on March 21, 1890. The masthead continued listing the volume and issue numbers for the Sentinel as well as the new volume and issue numbers for the Register. Set up as a five-column, eight-page paper, it featured articles on political conventions and legislative terms. The Register was decidedly Republican in its support.

Starting October 24, 1894, Dutcher and Breed began publishing the Register on Wednesdays and Saturdays and renamed it the Semi-Weekly Register. Each Wednesday issue had four pages and each Saturday issue contained eight pages. On December 7, 1897, the semi-weekly issues changed publication to Tuesday and Friday. This publishing schedule continued through December 9, 1898.

Dutcher and Breed resumed weekly publication on December 15, 1898, under the Brookings Weekly Register name. The eight-page issue, laid out in seven columns, was produced each Thursday. The paper focused on news items from college events, local school events, society news, and current hospitality notes, along with serialized fiction. Directories of county and city officers, churches, and secret societies appeared frequently. Holiday issues often doubled the size of the paper to include all the holiday advertising and special events in the Brookings area. If you needed a touch of humor, a column titled "Jingling Jokelets Joyfully Jibed" would certainly bring a smile.

By September 3, 1903, the Brookings Weekly Register transitioned to a six-column, eight-page format. The following week, September 10, 1903, Breed and Dutcher returned to the Brookings Register name. In March 1906, they formed the Register Publishing Company. Up until this time, the subscription price of $1.50 per year had not changed, but on June 21, 1906, the price was lowered to $1.00 per year. In January 1907, the paper was changed to 12 pages, often in two sections, and the price returned to $1.50 annually. By December 1918, the price increased to $2.00 yearly and then in June 1919 to $2.50. The following March, the subscription price went up to $3.00 per year, which remained in effect until January 1923, when the price dropped to a $2.00 rate.

Over the years, the Brookings Register remained dedicated to the local community schools and businesses and other major groups that helped build the fifth-largest city in South Dakota. In 1916, Dutcher became the sole owner of the Register publishing business. He noted several associate editors and news associates until E. E Sanders took over the Register in the mid-1920s. As of 2020, the Register was published as a daily paper.