| Brookeland is located in the extreme southwestern
part of Sabine County and was named for the John C. Brooke family. The first
United States Post Office was established there in 1866 with John C. Brooke
as the first postmaster.
The Gulf, Beaumont, and Great Northern Railway, which
was constructed northward from Beaumont, passed through Brookeland in
1902 at which time the town became the first terminus in Sabine County
for both passenger and rail service.
In 1902 a new town was laid out about one mile from Brookeland,
and was named Weed in honor of the engineer who laid out the townsite.
The new name was never popular and eventually both areas became known
under the old name.
Brookeland State Bank was opened in 1910 and continued
operation until 1933· In addition to several retail businesses, a Ford
automobile agency nourished there during the 1920s.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the town population
gradually declined; however, with the completion of the Sam Rayburn Lake,
whose perimeter lies nearby, the population has increased to perhaps its
former level.
With the construction of US Highway 96 in 1926, which
bypassed the old town, together with the relocation of the railroad caused
by the construction of Sam Rayburn Lake, very little remains that will
permit one to envision the thriving town that it once was.
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