Cooksville is a very tiny town located in southeastern rural Wisconsin near the Badfish creek. It was established by John Cook and his brother Daniel in 1842, they eventually purchased land from Senator Daniel Webster (not Noah, of the dictionary)and together with that land and the Vilage of Waucoma formed Cooksville.. The Village was thriving for quite sometime, however the railway system that was being established at the time did not include the area resulting in most of residents leaving.

Cooksville was established by Norwegians and New Englanders resulting in the town having New England style architecture and had become known as the New England of the west and as the town time forgot as the people left and the structures remained behind. The height of the population was only 200 people.

The town had a flour mill, a blacksmith shop and a general store. The tiny village also had a town squre where the residents would bring various farm animals for auction.

This is the town’s community center, it is still in use. There is a sign stating yoga lessons are available.This was originally the schoolhouse, 1886

This is the historic cemetery. It has a number of older graves dating back to the time the town was established in the 1840s.

This is more of the abandoned barn not sure who owned it or when it was built.

This is the historic general store and the most notable of all the remaining buildings. It is not in operation, we did not venture inside. And I was told by Larry Reed, the town historian, where most if this information comes from, that it will soon be a restaurant and was once a masonic lodge. Upstairs are furnishings from when it was built around 1840.

This is the Lutheran church another notable building. Built in 1840s and reboult in 1897 after lightening struck causing a fire

The church again with a small portion of the neighboring cemetery visible in the lower left corner. This cemetery has vets from the Civil and other wars, Mr Reed says the oldest resident is from 1766

Here is the historic marker with some information about Cooksville. Most of the details I learned are from internet sources. (See references at the end of the blog)

Cookville was entered into the register of historic plaess in 1973 most notably because of how well it is preserved, the New England architecture uncommon in Wisconsin, and the fact this ;little community is pretty much unchanged and has a unique charm and attractivness

Sources, Historic Cooksville trust, the national register of historic places, and town of Porter website and hank you to Mr. Larry Reed for our informative phone conversation

Debra Organ, 2023