Horatio G. Brooks (October 30, 1828 – April 20, 1887) worked as chief engineer for the New York and Erie Railroad (NY&E) until the railroad moved its steam locomotive maintenance facilities from Dunkirk, New York, to Buffalo. In 1869 he leased the former NY&E shops in Dunkirk and formed Brooks Locomotive Works. Brooks also served for three terms as mayor of Dunkirk. He was a leading figure in the business and social life of the area around Dunkirk, and western New York state.
Family and early life
Horatio Brooks was born on October 30, 1828, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Brooks was appointed superintendent of the western division of Erie Railroad in October 1862, Stevens continued on with Alco, becoming chairman of the board of directors in 1905.
In 1898, the Stevens family donated the Horatio G. Brooks Dunkirk homestead to YMCA to become the organization's hospital and library; the donation was valued at $150,000 (). It became known as the Brooks Memorial Hospital. By 1944, the original building was slated to be razed.
Horatio Brooks's wife Julia died in 1896, leaving many shares of company stock and large amounts of cash to their descendants and family. She was buried beside her late husband in Forest Hill Cemetery.
Monuments to Horatio Brooks commemorating his work as president of Brooks Locomotive Works and his contributions to the community were proposed as early as 1903.
A locomotive that bore his name in honor was involved in a collision in 1923 when it ran out of control onto another line.
Brooks was remembered in celebration in 1923 by employees of the Brooks plant who had worked there for 25 or more years; he was hailed as "Dunkirk's first citizen."
Brooks was one of a few men nominated to be included in the Hall of Fame for New York State's exhibit at the 1939 World's Fair.