Founded as a railroad town in 1858, Brookhaven predates its county, Lincoln, which was established in 1871 by the Reconstruction government. As at Hazlehurst, the courthouse square is situated off the main commercial strip, which lines both sides of the Illinois Central Railroad tracks. Following completion of the Mississippi Central Railroad branch in 1908, Brookhaven achieved an east-west connection with Hattiesburg and Natchez. Brookhaven’s economy included cotton, lumber, the Brookhaven Pressed Brick Company, the Brookhaven Creamery, and Whitworth College (SC11). The gridded downtown streets become curvilinear in the residential neighborhoods. Historically, white neighborhoods were primarily to the west of the courthouse square, while the largest black neighborhood was the southeastern quadrant, anchored by Alexander High School (SC14). In the early 1970s, completion of I-55, bypassing both U.S. 51 and downtown Brookhaven, quickly moved suburban and strip development to Brookway Boulevard, but the downtown remains vibrant today partly due to the Mississippi School for the Arts, occupying the former Whitworth College campus.
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