The historic Village of Cooksville in the Town of Porter was platted in 1842 by John Cook, who settled in the area with his brother Daniel in 1840. Cook purchased land south of the Badfish Creek from the U.S. government in 1837 when it went on sale for $1.25 an acre. Cook built a sawmill on the Badfish Creek in 1842, which was converted into a grist mill in 1847. The first store in Cooksville was opened in 1845 by John Chambers, and the village and surrounding area began to be settled by people from New York, New England, and the British Isles.
In 1846, Dr. John Porter platted the Village of Waucoma on the eastern edge of Cook’s village on land he had purchased from his Massachusetts neighbor, Senator Daniel Webster. Waucoma was three times the size of Cooksville and was laid out around a New England style Public Square donated to the village by Porter. A post office was established in 1849 and was located in various mercantile stores in Cooksville and Waucoma. (The post office, discontinued in 1903, was generally located in Cooksville, which is why both villages became known collectively as “Cooksville.”) The village soon had several general stores (the present general store dates from about 1847), a stagecoach inn-tavern (“Waucoma House”), several blacksmith shops, two brickyards, a brick schoolhouse (replaced by the present frame school in 1886), a door, sash and blind factory (converted to an agricultural implement factory about 1861), and a tin shop. Eventually, a cheese factory and two churches (the Congregational Church, 1879, and the Lutheran Church 1897 were also constructed.
In 1857, the planned railroad to Cooksville was not constructed, and the frontier village’s growth soon slowed. In the 1870s, Norwegian settlers to the area stimulated agricultural activities, but the village’s population never surpassed 200. Economic growth had by-passed the little community. However, in the 20th century, Cooksville became well-known as a “wee bit of New England in Wisconsin” and as “the town that time forgot” because of its well-preserved and relatively unspoiled mid-19th century Greek Revival and Gothic Revival architecture and because of its locally-made vermilion brick residences. Due to its unspoiled, pre-statehood historical architecture, it was suggested as a site for an “Old World Wisconsin” outdoor museum.
The Cooksville Historic District consists of about 35 historic buildings and sites, including the old Cooksville Cemetery. The Cooksville Historic District is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the State Register of Historic Places. The historic district is also designated a Historic Conservation Overlay District by the Town of Porter, to help protect the local, state and national historical heritage represented by this well-preserved rural village. The Town of Porter’s Historic District Committee serves as the focus of the historic preservation effort.
The Cooksville Archives, which contains information including photographs and articles about the history, the people and the settlement of the village, is maintained by Larry Reed, who may be contacted at (608) 873-5066. New additions of photographs and information about Cooksville and the Town of Porter are always welcome.
Larry Reed
COOKSVILLE GENERAL STORE
Eddie Julseth, left, and Larry Reed chat on the front steps of Cooksville General Store.
The 95-year-old Julseth is a former owner of the store and Reed is a local historian.
The 95-year-old Julseth is a former owner of the store and Reed is a local historian.
Photo by: Dan Lassiter
Cooksville General Store Bells Welcome Customers
Cooksville General Store Bells Welcome Customers
The Cooksville General Store is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and is thought to be the oldest continuously operating general store in the state. Last year, major renovations brought plumbing, running water, and an indoor restroom to the country store for the first time in its 164-year history.
COOKSVILLE COMMUNITY CENTER
The historic Cooksville Schoolhouse on the Public Square is the home of the non-profit Cooksville Community Center. Established in 1962, the Community Center serves as a focus for local activities such as educational programs, children’s activities, community meetings, and historical tours.
HISTORIC COOKSVILLE TRUST
The Cooksville Archives, which contains information including photographs and articles about the history, the people, and the settlement of the village, is maintained by Larry Reed. New additions of photographs and information about Cooksville and the Town of Porter are always welcome.
For more information, contact Larry Reed, (608) 873-5066.
The Cooksville Scots Pine
The excerpt that follows is from the book Every Root an Anchor: Wisconsin’s Famous and Historic Trees by R. Bruce Allison (© 2005 Wisconsin Historical Society)
A record Scots pine kept the peace in an old cemetery in Cooksville, Rock County, a cemetery that might not have been there if Daniel Webster, the famous United States Senator, hadn’t speculated in Wisconsin land at $1.25 per acre. And the names on the tombstones certainly wouldn’t have been those of friends of Webster to whom he, in turn, sold the holdings he had bought through a land agent in 1837.
Dr. John Porter, Webster’s friend and physician, was one of the buyers. Many of his family settled what became Porter Township. Also settling there were the two Cook brothers who platted a village called Cooksville in 1842. “Waucoma” was the name the Porters chose for their adjacent village, platted in 1845. The railroad bypassed the merged hamlets, probably ensuring their later inclusion in the Nation- al Register of Historic Places.
Because there was little development after the 1840s, the place remains today an accurate reflection of villages of that era. Perhaps uniquely for Wiscon- sin, it has a New England flavor, with its grassy com- mons that once grazed the community’s livestock. The surrounding Greek Revival style homes are constructed of lovely, vermillion-colored local brick.
Many unusual and large trees were planted early in Cooksville and were much appreciated. The old cemetery’s Scots pine, at 12 feet in circumference and 50 feet in height, was for years the largest of its kind in the state. It finally succumbed to age and weather in the late 1990s. There was also a huge black locust, a mulberry, a shagbark hickory and an unusually large river birch in the town.
Sources: H. Clifton Hutchins, Madison; Larry Reed, Cooksville
Because there was little development after the 1840s, the place remains today an accurate reflection of villages of that era. Perhaps uniquely for Wiscon- sin, it has a New England flavor, with its grassy com- mons that once grazed the community’s livestock. The surrounding Greek Revival style homes are constructed of lovely, vermillion-colored local brick.
Many unusual and large trees were planted early in Cooksville and were much appreciated. The old cemetery’s Scots pine, at 12 feet in circumference and 50 feet in height, was for years the largest of its kind in the state. It finally succumbed to age and weather in the late 1990s. There was also a huge black locust, a mulberry, a shagbark hickory and an unusually large river birch in the town.
Sources: H. Clifton Hutchins, Madison; Larry Reed, Cooksville
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