Brooks County was formed in 1858 by an act of the Georgia General Assembly.  It was created from parts of Lowndes and Thomas counties.  It was named for Preston Brooks who was a member of Congress prior to the Civil War and an avid defender of state rights. 

The first settlers, in what is now Brooks County, were Spanish missionaries from Florida who arrived around 1570.  During the Civil War, the county was the main producer of food for the confederacy and became known as the "Breadbasket of the South".