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| Historic Cooksville Trust brochure |
The Historic Cooksville Trust, Inc., founded in 1999, is
celebrating 15 years of assisting historic preservation in the Village of
Cooksville and the surroundings area.
The Trust was incorporated as a private, non-profit,
tax-exempt charitable organization in Wisconsin under federal IRS Code 501(c) (3)
as a non-membership organization with a goal of preserving and conserving the
historic heritage of Cooksville.
To carry out its mission, the Historic Cooksville Trust
seeks donations of private funds, property, and historic easements. Donations
to the Trust are tax deductible. Recently, three acres of nearby farmland and a
historic house in Cooksville were donated to the Trust, in addition to funding
for various preservation projects. The Trust also collects and maintains
important archival materials (photographs and documents) and historical and
cultural artifacts (paintings, furniture, books, pottery, etc.) that relate to
the history and culture of the Cooksville community.
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| Lutheran Church steeple project, 2004
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| The Graves Blacksmith Shop |
So far the Trust has assisted nine preservation projects with
grants of funds totaling about $60,000. The major projects have included
assistance with rehabilitating the historic Blackman-Woodbury House, assistance
with the re-construction of the Graves Blacksmith Shop, assistance with the restoration
of the Cooksville Lutheran Church steeple, assistance to the Cooksville Community
Center roof replacement project, and the funding for the installation of water
and a rest-room for the first time in the history of the Cooksville General
Store.
Other projects that received financial assistance from the
Trust include the Community Center’s “Carving on the Commons” event, the
Preserve Our Rural Landscape Celebration, and the Research and Letter
Compilation for Opposition to the Cell Tower project. Also funded have been
various educational materials, brochures and newsletters for the Trust.
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| Cooksville General Store, 2010 |
At present, the Historic Cooksville Trust has a 12-member
Board of Directors with an additional six Honorary Board Members and an
ex-officio legal counsel. The present Board members are Vicki Ballweg, Bob
Degner, Steve Ehle, Lynne Eich, Will Fellows, Carl Franseen, Dennis Kittleson,
Mary Kohlman, Rick Mackie, Mike McConville, Larry Reed and Nancy Remley.
Honorary members include Greg Armstrong, Ellsworth Brown, Jim Danky, Katie
Ryan, Patrick Ryan and Shirley Wilde. The Trust’s counsel is Marney Hoefer of
Stafford Rosenbaum LLP.
The Trust offers information about the history of Cooksville
and its early settlement, as well as preservation advice to persons about the
state and federal income tax credits available for rehabilitating historic
buildings and about standards for the treatment of historic buildings and
sites. The Trust also offers group tours of Historic Cooksville upon request.
The Cooksville Historic District, in the “Town that Time
Forgot,” consists of about 35 historic and architectural buildings, structures
and sites within the village. In addition, eight historic properties are located
within a two-mile radius outside the village. These properties were listed in
the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and 1980. The Cooksville
Historic District is also locally designated under Town of Porter zoning.
[For more
information, contact Larry Reed at (608) 873-5066.]
