Brooks is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Marion County,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, United States. For statistical purposes, the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

has defined Brooks as a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP). The census definition of the area may not precisely correspond to local understanding of the area with the same name. As of the 2020 census the population was 472.United States Census
/ref> Brooks is part of the

Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area The Salem metropolitan statistical area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is a metropolitan statistical area consisting of two counties in western Oregon, Marion and Polk. The principal city is Salem, the state capital, which has a ...

. It is located about nine miles north of Salem near

Oregon Route 99E Oregon Route 99E is an Oregon state highway that runs between Junction City, Oregon and an interchange with I-5 just south of the Oregon/ Washington border, in Portland. It, along with OR 99W, makes up a split of OR 99 in the northern part ...

French Prairie French Prairie is located in Marion County, Oregon, United States, in the Willamette Valley between the Willamette River and the Pudding River, north of Salem. The prairie area roughly corresponds to the traditional land of the Kalapuya peopl ...

History

Brooks was a station on the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

main line (now the Union Pacific) through the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...

. The station was named for early settler Linus Brooks, who came to Oregon from Illinois in 1850. He was born in Ohio in 1805. Brooks post office was established in 1871, about the time the railroad reached the community. Brooks was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted with 30 blocks in 1878 and had 135 residents at that time. The community did not grow appreciably and it never incorporated.

Geography

According to the

, the CDP has a total area of , all of it land.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 410 people, 152 households, and 112 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 158 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 82.68%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.24%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.22% Native American, 0.24%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 15.12% from other races, and 0.49% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 22.20% of the population. There were 152 households, out of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.9% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.7% were non-families. 24.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.19. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 26.1% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.5 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $25,938, and the median income for a family was $26,318. Males had a median income of $27,375 versus $18,750 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the CDP was $12,008. About 12.1% of families and 10.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 10.4% of those under age 18 and 18.9% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

For planning purposes, Brooks and the community of Hopmere together form an Urban Unincorporated Community, as designated by Marion County. The area's economy has been traditionally based on agriculture.

NORPAC NORPAC is a bipartisan, multi-candidate political action committee (PAC) working to strengthen United States-Israel relations. NORPAC has spent the past 30 years building deep ties with candidates for the US House and Senate who advance the allia ...

, a fruit and vegetable processor, is the largest industrial property in Brooks.

Reworld Reworld, formerly Covanta (legal name; Reworld Holding Corporation), is a private energy-from-waste and industrial waste management services company headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey. Most of its revenue comes from operating incineratio ...

runs a

waste-to-energy Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) refers to a series of processes designed to convert waste materials into usable forms of energy, typically electricity or heat. As a form of energy recovery, WtE plays a crucial role in both wa ...

garbage burning facility in Brooks that handles

municipal solid waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the American English, United States and rubbish in British English, Britain, is a List of waste types, waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. ...

from around the county.

Museums and other points of interest

Brooks is the home of

Powerland Heritage Park Powerland Heritage Park, formerly known as Antique Powerland, is a collection of museums and a self-described heritage site for power equipment, such as farm machinery, commercial trucks, trains, trolleys, construction equipment, logging equipment ...

, formerly Antique Powerland, which houses a number of transport museums. The Brooks Historical Society is located in the former Brooks Southern Pacific railroad depot on the Powerland Heritage Park property. Trucks loaded with celery arriving at a loading station in preparation for being loaded into railroad cars, Lake Labish area near Brooks, Oregon (6355370641).jpg, Trucks loaded with celery arriving at a loading station in preparation for being loaded into railroad cars, Lake Labish area near Brooks, Oregon Star Market (Brooks, Oregon).jpg, The Star Market in Brooks, Oregon

Education

Brooks is served by the Gervais School District, which includes the grade 2- 4 Brooks Elementary School. Students from Brooks attend middle and high school in Gervais. Brooks also is the home of the private Willamette Valley Christian School. The

Chemeketa Community College Chemeketa Community College is a public community college in Salem, Oregon, with a campus in McMinnville, and education centers in Dallas, Brooks, and Woodburn. In addition, the college has a Center for Business and Industry in downtown Sale ...

Brooks campus specializes in training of public safety students and professionals.

Notable people

* George Schoener, rose breeder

References

External links

Historic images of Brooks
from Salem Public Library
Images of Brooks
from Flickr {{authority control Census-designated places in Oregon Salem, Oregon metropolitan area Unincorporated communities in Marion County, Oregon 1871 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1871 Census-designated places in Marion County, Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon