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Becker County became a county on March 18, 1858. It was named after George Loomis Becker. Becker was one of three men elected to congress when Minnesota became a state, but since Minnesota could only send two, Becker elected to stay behind, and he was promised to have a county named after him.

George Loomis Becker was born in Locke, New York in 1829. He attended Case Western Reserve University and the University of Michigan Law School before relocating to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1849 to practice law. He formed a partnership with Edmund Rice and Ellis Whitall which lasted until 1856. He first entered politics in 1854 when he was elected as a city council member for St. Paul. In 1856 he was elected mayor of St. Paul and served for a single one year term. He participated in the Democratic Minnesota Constitutional Convention in 1857 and was elected as one of three people to serve in the United States House of Representatives for the newly organized state. When it was revealed that the state would only receive two seats, Becker was the one left out. By some accounts he withdrew from consideration while others suggest the three candidates drew straws and Becker was the one who lost. Becker went on to serve in the administration of Governor Henry Hastings Sibley as well as two terms in the Minnesota State Senate from 1868 to 1872. He unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Minnesota twice (in 1859 and 1894) and for a seat in the US House of Representatives (in 1872). Outside of politics he spent much of his later life working in the railroad industry including positions with the Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad and the Western Railroad of Minnesota. He also served on the state's Railroad and Warehouse Commission from 1885 to 1901. George Loomis Becker died in St. Paul on January 6, 1904. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery in St. Paul.

The city of Detroit Lakes was founded by Colonel George Johnston in 1871, the city grew quickly with the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Colonel Johnston had led settlers entirely hailing from the New England states to settle in this region. In 1877, an election finally decided that Detroit Lakes, then known as Detroit, was to become the county seat. Detroit won the election by a ninety percent majority. Frazee, Lake Park, and Audubon were also in the running for the county seat. In 1884, Detroit Lakes had many businesses such as the Hotel Minnesota, the Lakes Hotel, a bank, a newspaper, and an opera house. The first courthouse was built that year also. In 1885, the first County Fire Department was constructed. In 1903, the Soo Line Railroads built a rail line through the county. Only one book has been published about Becker County, "History of Becker" was written by A.H. Wilcox in 1907. Detroit Lakes is the home of one of three to five Grand Army of the Republic Parks in the Nation. The City of Detroit Lakes rededicated the GAR Park on April 15, 2015, marking the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and the death of President Lincoln. The rededication was sponsored by Colonel Tom Mortenson and his wife Pam, representing the Women's Relief Corps who spearheaded community support for the effort that included new signage for the Park, and a time capsule to be opened on the 200th anniversary.

 

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