“Birds Flock Together in Cooksville ‘Suburb’”: A Newspaper Story From 1953

In the early1950s, probably1953, a newspaper reporter “rambling around Wisconsin,” most likely from the Milwaukee Journal, discovered the “birders” of Cooksville— the bird watchers. 

The reporter’s story, entitled “Birds Flock Together in Cooksville ‘Suburb,’” appears in an undated clipping filed in the Cooksville Archives. The writer, Richard S. Davis, describes some very serious bird-watching that was happening in and near Cooksville in the 1950s—a hobby that continued on through the years. 

The story focuses on the Porter family, especially Lyell (1896-1997) and Olga (1901-1986) Porter, who lived on the historic J.K.P. Porter farm next to Cooksville in Rock County. They and their family members were the main “birders” in the article. 

As the reporter wrote:

“This visit to Cooksville took only a few hours, but it should have run on and on. The  reporter, even now, should be sitting on the front porch of the Porters talking about birds, or beef cattle, or fence posts, or poetry, or something else truly important.

“The Porters, come to think of it, don’t actually live in Cooksville, but they might be called suburbanites. They live on a farm in the town of Porter, a beautiful farm that has been in the family ever since the grandfather, J.K.P. Porter, came along from the east [in 1846. ed.]…

 “The Porters are Lyle [actually spelled Lyell. ed.], and his good wife, Olga; his elder brother Joe; his daughter, Barbara, and his son, John… Their farm is the kind of a place a city man dreams about as he builds his castles in the air.

"Every member of the family is apparently a "birder," which means a person who can take one quick look and identify the flitting visitor...  Mrs. Porter brought out a notebook in the huddle on the porch and read off a list of other farm tenants as long as your arm. All the birds listed had been found to nest on the place. ....

“There seems to be no point in mentioning here the more common varieties, but you ought to be told that the following live in the quiet places of Rock County: The blue and the green heron, the American and the least bittern, the wood duck and his familiar cousins, the black billed cuckoo, the long eared owl and his uncles, the ruby throated hummingbird, the flicker, the yellow bellied sapsucker, the king bird, the crested flycatcher, the phoebe, the wood peewee, the least flycatcher, and the black capped chickadee. 

From "A Guide to Field Identification: Birds of North America," 1983

“Take a deep breath, because the list goes on: The white and red breasted nuthatch, the brown creeper, the short billed marsh wren, the catbird, the brown thrasher, the cedar waxwing, the migrant shrike, the red eyed and the yellow throated vireo, the orange sora rail, the killdeer, the woodcock, the upland plover, Wilson’s snipe, the spotted sandpiper, the black tern, the bobolink, the Baltimore oriole, the red wing and the yellow headed blackbird, the cardinal, the indigo bunting, the goldfinch, the red eyed towhee and the dickcissel.

From "Audubon Bird Guide: Eastern Land Birds," 1946

“[T]he reporter is frank enough to admit that he sat with his mouth agape as they discussed their intimate friends…. 

“Badfish creek, which rises near Oregon, Wis., and flows into the Yahara, crosses the Porter farm. As everyone should know, there is nothing like a creek to observe in its tuneful meanderings. The Porters, in addition, have a suspension bridge over their section of the Badfish and nothing could be more picturesque than that….. 

“It came time for lunch and everyone drove off a few miles to the roadside café [in Cooksville. ed.] presided over by Mrs. Clara Ortman… Hamburgers and malted milks are Mrs. Ortman’s specialty. She offered this helpful piece of information: ‘Raw onions with hamburgers don’t seem to have quite the staying power that cooked onions do. People who are really thoughtful about others, I find, always order the uncooked kind….’ 

“The real Cooksville, your agent discovered, is only a handful of houses, but charm lives in every one of them. Marvin Raney shares the one with the biggest garden and he took delight in showing the place [the Duncan house. ed.] inside and out… At this time in June, Cooksville is radiant with lilacs, lupin (sic), iris, poppies, roses, daisies and peonies… 

“’I wish you were going to be here over the weekend,’ Raney said.  ‘That is when we’re holding our garden and house tour for the benefit of the Cooksville Mothers’ club. The club is the guardian angel of our school. The school has 28 pupils and Mrs. Helen Naysmith is the teacher. 

“’In addition to this house of ours, the tour will visit the homes of Mrs. Naysmith, M.T. Armstrong, C.S. Atwood and A.J. Kramer. [Note: the five historic homes were the Duncan, Morgan, Longbourne, Backenstoe-Howard, and Benjamin Hoxie houses. ed.] The charge is 50 cents a person…  Each visitor is to receive a booklet on the old houses and tea and cookies as well.’  

“It would have been wonderful to stay in Cooksville for the garden tour. There is nothing like a cooky (sic) to bring a man back to real values.”  

So the reporter ended his story.  It should be noted that the 1953 house tour was so well-attended that the cookies were depleted the first day and more had to baked Saturday night for the Sunday crowd of tourists. 

"In the Hand," painting by John Wilde, 1957

In the 1960s and 1970s, other “birders” appeared on the Cooksville scene. John and Shirley Wilde bought land near Lyell and Olga Porter’s farm, built a house, and joined the others as avid birders and annual bird-counters. John included many birds and bird-creatures in his “Wilde World” paintings.

"A Red-Breasted Nuthatch (Lady Bird Series)," painting by John Wilde, 1982

And soon Karl Wolter and Patrick Comfert began rehabilitating wounded birds or homeless feathered friends, among other creatures, at their Cooksville farm and aviary. Some of them, like a very tame and friendly blue jay and large black crow, visited Cooksville folks for handouts of peanuts and bits of meat, which they would eat or secrete in the trees or under fallen leaves. And more recently, Karl and Patrick provided new feathered visitors from their sanctuary-farm: peacocks and sand-hill cranes strolled elegantly and sometimes loudly through the village.  

Birds, large and small, some more easily recognized than others, still visit the historic Village of Cooksville and the nearby farmlands, restored prairies and the Badfish marshlands next to the little old community, where bird-feeders are kept very busy. 

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 [The Cooksville Archives and Collections provided the newspaper clippings, the 1953 house-tour information, and several bird-identification books. Larry Reed.]

2018 Cooksville Community Events

Saturday, April 28: Community Center Clean-Up Day (10:00am-1:00pm,Schoolhouse) All are welcome to come out with their favorite cleaning tools to air out the schoolhouse, sweep out overwintering beetles, and tidy up after the winter’s window restoration project. Donuts for all participants.

 Sunday, April 29: Arbor Day Celebration on the Commons (1:00pm-4:00pm, Commons, reception at schoolhouse) Hear an update from the Cooksville Tree Committee about the state of the Oak restoration project and the health of the area’s woods and environment. Rain or shine!

Wednesday, May 30: Cooksville Live at the English Barn (7:00pm-9:00pm, Cooksville Farmhouse Inn) A local talent review featuring area musicians, singers, and performers held in the lovely English Barn behind the Farmhouse Inn. Ample parking behind the barn. Free.

Wednesday, June 6: Stoughton Chamber Singers Concert (7:00pm-9:30pm, Congregational Church) Tickets are available from McGlynn’s Pharmacy in Stoughton, from the Singers, or at the door. $5.00 admission benefits the singers and the CCC.  A reception will follow at the schoolhouse.

Tuesday, June 19:  Genealogy 101 (7:00pm-9:00pm, Schoolhouse) Lisa Imhoff will help you launch your journey into family history. Nominal fee of $1 to cover handouts. Bring a pencil with an eraser! 

Wednesday, July 4: Independence Day Picnic (12:30pm-2:30pm, Commons) Potluck community meal under the Oaks. Share your favorite picnic fare and outdoor games. Rain location is the schoolhouse.

Tuesday, July 10: Wellness Series part I: Tai Chi workshop (6:30-8:30pm, Schoolhouse)Introduction to Tai Chi: Lisa Imhoff and her friends at Lotus Transforming Tai Chi Club will introduce you to this soft martial art of slow, gentle movements that improves balance, flexibility and strength. Bring comfortable shoes, water. Dress comfortably. Free admission.

Tuesday, July 17: Wellness Series Part II: Yoga workshop (6:30-8:30pm, Schoolhouse)Workshop for both new and experienced practitioners. Yoga offers physical, mental, and spiritual exercise and mindfulness training. Dress comfortably. Please bring an exercise mat if you have one, and a water bottle.

Wednesday, July 18: Old Settler’s Stories with Ruth Ann Montgomery (7:00pm-9:00pm, Schoolhouse) A presentation on some of the fascinating history of our area told by local Rock County historian, Ruth Ann Montgomery. Meet and greet to follow. Free event.

Saturday, August 11: Christmas in Summer (1:30pm-2:30pm, Schoolhouse) Experience a one-room schoolhouse holiday pageant as it was remembered by local residents who grew up attending small rural schools and enjoyed performing for their classmates and families. Always fun and full of surprises! Free event.

Monday, September 17: CCC Annual Meeting& Ice Cream Social  (6:30pm-8:30pm, Schoolhouse) All Community Center members are invited to hear about the state of the organization from its Board of Directors, and participate in Board elections. The community is welcome for ice cream before the meeting. New to the Community Center? Join us with a $25.00 lifetime membership.

Saturday, October 20: Cooksville Halloween Party (6:30pm-9:00pm, Schoolhouse) Old-fashioned harvest-time fun with crafts and games, a snack and dessert potluck, hot cider, bonfire, and outdoor scavenger hunt. A good time for all ages. Free event.

The Village of Cooksville in the 1954 Book ,“Wisconsin Heritage”

In 1954, a large format book by Bertha Kitchell Whyte, titled “Wisconsin Heritage,” was published in Boston, containing sixteen chapters, with one chapter devoted to “Ralph Warner and Cooksville.” Other chapters in the book addressed such topics as Wisconsin’s early taverns, octagonal houses and barns, the lumber era, potteries and glass works, and Norwegian heirlooms.

 

In Chapter 15, Whyte focused on the historic village and its famous resident Ralph Lorenzo Warner (1875-1941) and his antiquarian work of art, the “House Next Door.” She wrote:

             “So successful was he in choosing for his setting the town, the house, the furnishings, the very flowers in the garden and food for the table, that for twenty years his home was a mecca for all who shared his pleasure in such things.”

She further praised Warner’s accomplishments:

            “Nothing was put in the house that did not belong in a home of the period or that could not be blended into a harmonious whole by the sensitive touch of the new owner… No telephone or other anachronism was permitted to break the spell of the interior. Many of the rugs the owner hooked himself in his workshop in the barn where he also had his loom…..  

Warner's parlor in the "House Next Door"

            “He was one of the earliest and most intelligent collectors in the state and knew better than anyone else how to display, and make desirable his own treasures. Usually these treasures were not for sale. A story he told with particular relish concerned one distinguished visitor, Joseph Hergesheimer, the author (popular 1920s novelist and passionate antique collector. Ed.), who rolled on the lawn in rage when he was not permitted to purchase a certain Stiegel bottle.” (Henry Stiegel was a mid-18^th century American glass maker. Ed.) 

Visitors to the "House Next Door"

Whyte included eight photos in her story about Warner and the village, which she noted had been attracting visitors for about forty years. (And still does.)

Regarding the village, Whyte wrote:

             “Cooksville itself deserves a niche in any consideration of Wisconsin villages, a niche that is not in proportion to its present size. In its spacious central Common laid out according to the ancient pattern of commons in Colonial America and the charming mid- nineteenth century red brick houses which border it, it represents a part of New England that our pioneer ancestors transplanted to the prairies of southern Wisconsin.” 

The author ended her ten-page story about the village with:

              “Cooksville would make a lovely setting for a novel.”

 Unfortunately, Whyte made a number of factual errors in her Cooksville story. The inaccuracies, discovered just after the book was published, were pointed out by the new owners of Warner’s house at the time, Chester Holway (1908-1986) and Marvin Raney (1918-1980). In a letter to Whyte in early 1955, Holway lamented the fact that he had not been consulted when she was writing about his house and the village. (Nor had Raney, the local historian.) Holway— himself a writer, editor, journalist and gardener— listed “a number of errors” and misrepresentations in his long letter.  

Whyte replied that she hoped some of the errors would be corrected if the Boston publisher agreed and if a second edition were to be printed. (Apparently a second edition was published about 1961, but it is not in the Cooksville Archives.) 

Chester Holway

Here are some of the inaccuracies pointed out by Holway:

·         It was not true that the late Ralph Warner’s house could no longer be seen by visitors. “It has, in fact, been visited in these recent years by numerous individuals and by several groups,” Holway wrote to Whyte.

·         One photo labeled “Parlor” was actually Warner’s Morning-room.

·         The photo labeled “Porter home” is actually the Hoxie House, not a Porter home.

·         Warner purchased the house in 1911, not 1912.

·         Warner died in 1941, not 1939.

·         Chester Holway was not the “nephew” of Warner.

·         Warner did have a modern “anachronism” in the house that he concealed from guests: outlets for electrical lights.

·         The Old Settlers’ Picnic was no longer an annual event, having been discontinued after 1950.

·         Warner’s garden did not contain only old-fashioned flowers but included many new,  fashionable and exotic plantings, and was more “English” than “19^th Century American.” 

However, Holway did compliment Whyte on her effort and assured her that her book, even with its errors, “does not diminish an appreciation of the labor you have assuredly put into ‘Wisconsin Heritage.’ And it is a volume that is most welcome.”

Duncan House, or the "House Next Door"

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Christmas at the "Cooksville House" in 1953

Almost 65 years ago, preparations were being made at the “Cooksville House” for holiday gift-buyers. This village gift shop was in the old barn in the backyard of the historic Duncan House in the center of Cooksville. The shop was owned and operated by Marvin Raney, resident of the Duncan House.  

Marvin Raney at work

Raney had created the gift shop in his barn in order to display and sell the artful creations of his Cooksville neighbors and friends, especially Dorothy Kramer who specialized in ceramics and weavings. 

Also for sale were creations by a nearby blacksmith, a silversmith, wood-workers and other weavers. No doubt Raney also included some items from his own antiques collection. (He would later open a larger shop east of Cooksville to sell antique furniture, pottery, glassware, and much more.)  

An article in Madison’s Wisconsin State Journal, dated October 18, 1953, proclaimed:  “In Cooksville Shop, It’s Christmas in October.” Good publicity for a small rural gift shop.

The article’s writer, John Newhouse, describes Marvin Raney and “Mrs. Arthur Kramer” (as the writer refers to Dorothy Kramer) and their entrepreneurial efforts to operate their special Cooksville House gift shop and prepare for the coming holiday shoppers. Here are excerpts from that 1953 article: 

            “COOKSVILLE— A fey shop, if ever there was one, is the Cooksville House, which was once a barn. At the present moment it is decorated in Yule fashion, with Christmas tree and presents underneath.

            “The shop… nicely stocked with ceramics, hand-woven work, decorated wooden-ware, and hand-decorated tiles will be open from 2 to 5 in the afternoon…Depending on the weather.

            “There is no use telephoning the shop, or the home of the owner, Marvin Raney, an engaging young man with no visible means of support, who shudders slightly when the word “work” profanes his prescense (sic. prescience?).

            “He does not have a telephone in the house because they bother him. Occasionally someone figures out the circuitous route by which he may be summoned—at his own convenience—to a neighbor’s phone. ‘It is an imposition,’ he says—though not specifying who is being imposed upon. ‘Once more and I shall have to put in a phone.’ The phone, he says with an amused glint in his eyes, shall be in the barn, where it can ring and ring, unanswered but giving some satisfaction to the person trying to call him. 

Duncan House Barn, photo 1980s

            “The barn… was converted into a gift shop because it bothered him that the talents of a neighbor, Mrs. Arthur Kramer, were going to waste.

            “Mrs. Kramer specializes in weaving and in ceramics, having her own looms and her own kiln. 

Dorothy Kramer

            “Her husband, a Chicago advertising man, comes to Cooksville on weekends, and devotes himself to ‘potting,’ as Raney puts it. He has a potters wheel in a summer house and there he sits, kicking the wheel with an energetic toe and giving life and form to a blob of clay….

            “The pots made by Kramer are decorated by Elton Beckenridge (sic. Breckenridge) a Chicago artist who has bought a house in Cooksville…. 

Kramer pottery

             “And the pots are glazed and fired by Mrs. Kramer….

            “[O]ther artists have brought in their wares. R. L. Woods, a retired blacksmith at Janesville, contributed knives he makes… Mrs. T. O. Nuzum, also of Janesville, brings in weaving. Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Chevalier, of Delavan, are working with silver, and they, too, are contributing.

            “Converting the shop into a barn (or vice versa. Ed.) called for a certain amount of energy, but Raney does not count it as work since it was very interesting.

            “The floor of the barn goes up in spots and down in spots, and threatens to decant the visitor out a door and into the gardens.

            “And these, with their formal walks and rare plantings, are not a bad place to be decanted.

            “The (Duncan) house belonged at one time to Ralph Warner, and was known as ‘The House Next Door.’ Warner, esthete, musical, and a man tremendously interested in gardens and antiques, developed gardens and house in the Early American tradition….

            “The land upon which Cooksville’s square is laid out was once owned by Daniel Webster and—so says an unverified story—he lost it on taxes. The houses, of pink brick, were built in the decade 1848-58, and Cooksville people are inordinately proud of them.” 

The" Cooksville House"  moved to Webster Street

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NOTE: The “Cooksville House” was soon moved from the historic Duncan House barn on State Road 59 to the historic house on Webster Street  known as Waucoma Lodge north of Raney’s, where it was managed until the late 1950s by Marvin Raney (1918-1980) and Dorothy Kramer (1900-1971). Unfortunately, the Kramer pottery studio next to Dorothy's and Arthurs's house burned down in 1956. A few years later, Raney would open a large antique store, the “Only Yesterday Shop,” in the historic granary building on the Joseph Porter Farmstead just east of Cooksville, which Raney operated until the early 1970s.  

Some of Kramer’s ceramics and weavings, as well as some of Raney’s rug weaving and antique collection are now in the Cooksville Archives and Collections. For more information, contact Larry Reed.

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More Photos of the Class of 1947 Students at Cooksville’s School

Here are more photos of Cooksville School students from 1947.Thanks to Cooksville School teacher Edith Cavey Johnson for sending these additional photos of her pupils to the Cooksville Archives collection. Also thanks to Marjorie Kloften Hipke, one of her students in the 1947 photograph, presently a resident in Evansville, who has helped to identify her classmates. (A previous Blog story here shared those earlier other  photos of the 1947 classmates.)

But you will notice that two of these student  portraits do not have last names written on them: Dale and Dennis in the bottom row. If anyone knows their identity, please share their names.

The Town of Porter once had nine rural one-room schools in operation, including Cooksville. These schoolhouses were scattered around the township on land usually donated by the farmer-owner. Four schools were in the north of the township, two in the center, three in the south— all serving the growing population for over a hundred years.

Cooksville Schoolhouse, photo c.1920-30

The nine schools included Cooksville, Eagle, Forest Academy, Lineau, Miller, Stebbinsville, Stevens, White Star, and Wilder schools.  Of these, seven remain standing; the Stebbinsville School burned down in 1942 and White Star School has been demolished. Most have been converted to residences; one is now the Porter Town Hall and one now serves as the Cooksville Community Center.

Lineau School, photo c. 1952

The earliest school in the historic Village of Cooksville was a brick building on the Public Square built about 1850. But because of structural problems and its small size, it was replaced in 1886 with the present wooden frame building, with bell tower and two entry doors, one for boys and one for girls, a very traditional New England-Puritanical design.

However, in 1961, all the one-room rural schools ceased their educational existence because the school districts were consolidated into a few large districts that would also contain higher-level “high” schools. The Town of Porter students then went to schools in the cities of Stoughton, Edgerton or Evansville, ending the 100-year history of Porter’s rural, one-room schools. 

The historic Cooksville Schoolhouse facing the village’s historic Public Square is now the home of the Cooksville Community Center established in 1962— with some learning and a lot of socializing  still going on in the old village schoolhouse.

Cooksville School Class of 1924-25

  

Above is a photograph of an earlier Cooksville School student body. These are the students of 1924-25, with their teacher Lloyd Porter (1882-1967), a grandson of one of the village’s original 1846 settlers, Joseph K. P. Porter. Also included with the photo is a list of the names of those pictured. (Many thanks to whoever took the time to write down the identities of the teacher and the classmates in the photo.)

A number of the photographs in the Cooksville Archives, are unfortunately not identified with names or dates or locations written on the back or somehow attached. But any and all such Cooksville photographs, etc., are always welcomed additions to the Archives.

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Historic Home Rehab Tax Credits Recently Used in Historic Cooksville

Wisconsin’s income tax credit program for historic homes has been used twice in Cooksville this past summer.

The State’s program for the rehabilitation of the exterior of a historic house, which can be financially helpful, is a 25% refund of qualified rehab expenses in the form of an income tax credit.

 The credits in Cooksville were granted for projects on the historic Longbourne House (1854) and the historic Van Buren House (1848). The two projects basically involved re-roofing the two residences.

Many historic homes in Cooksville have been restored and rehabilitated by owners, as have the two churches, the schoolhouse, the store, a blacksmith shop, as well as several outhouses. This has amounted to a total of about 20 historic buildings restored in the official Cooksville Historic District, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the State of Historic Places, and is also designated as a Historic Conservation District by the Town of Porter.

For at least the past forty years, Cooksville’s historic property owners have been rehabbing and thereby preserving their buildings. Their investments have enhanced the 19^th-century character of the historic village—and, of course, have improved the value of their properties. These undertakings help ensure the future of the historic community, which celebrated its 175^th birthday this year and which, hopefully, will be preserved for another 175 years.

The State of Wisconsin’s “Historic Homeowners' Tax Credit Program” helps preserve the historic homes, neighborhoods and villages throughout the State. The Tax Credit Program, administered by the Wisconsin Historical Society, provides the 25% tax credit to encourage and assist home-owners preserve part of the State’s historic built environment.

The tax credit is available to owners who rehab, repair and restore the exteriors of their historic residences. Most approved exterior (and some interior) work qualifies for this dollar-for-dollar income tax credit, which is used to write-off the owners’ State income taxes.

All the historic home owners in the official Cooksville Historic District are eligible to apply for the rehab tax credit. The application process is simple and quick but must be completed and approved before beginning the exterior rehab project. (Major exterior projects in Cooksville’s historic district must also be approved in advance by the Town of Porter’s Historic District Committee.) Potential historic older homes located elsewhere in the Town of Porter and not yet officially designated as historic by the State could be determined to be eligible for this rehabilitation tax credit through the application process.

The projects on the two historic homes in the Cooksville Historic District— the Longbourne House and the Van Buren House— resulted in new wood shingle roofs.

Scott on the Longbourne House roof

Scott Johnson and Lauren Hamvas, owners of the Longbourne House, have been busy rehabbing the house since they purchased it earlier this year. Scott has a Ph.D. in archaeology and learned about historic preservation programs from training by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and from experience working for archaeological consultants. Scott runs the Low Technology Institute where he researches pre-industrial technology and how it might be adapted for use in the future. And he and Lauren have been spending a lot of time rehabbing their house and gardens, for themselves as well as for their chickens and bees.

Longbourne House

Larry Reed has been rehabilitating his Van Buren House on and off for the past 40 years. But no chickens and only a few bees are permanent residents of his property, along with some other critters.

Van Buren House

The Wisconsin “Historic Homeowners' Tax Credit Program” has proved to be beneficial to the State in several ways .The program returns to the owner 25% of the cost of approved rehabilitations in the form of a Wisconsin income tax credit, and the State benefits from jobs created as well as from the investment in its historical heritage.

The Wisconsin Historical Society's State Historic Preservation Office administers the tax credit program. The application process is usually quick and easy. Basic requirements for the program are the following:

1. Make sure your home is a historic home. This means a home that is individually listed in the National Register or State Register of Historic Places, or a historic home that contributes to a National Register or State Register-listed historic district, or is a home that is determined to be eligible for an individual listing in the State Register of Historic Places.

2. You must plan to spend a minimum of $10,000 on eligible work that meets historic preservation standards.

3. You submit your Tax Credit Application before you do any work.

4. Your application is reviewed by the Wisconsin Historical Society.

5.  If your application is approved, you proceed with the project.

6. You notify the Wisconsin Historical Society when the work is completed.

For specific advice about the tax credit program or for advice on other technical historic architecture issues or preservation guidelines, contact Jen Davel by phone at (608) 264-6490 or by email: jennifer.davel@wisconsinhistory.org at the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison.

Other generous State and Federal income tax credits are available for rehabilitating non-owner occupied, income-producing historic buildings (stores, commercial structures, businesses, rental properties). These credits are a combined 20% State tax credit and a 20% Federal tax credit, for a total of 40%, available for rehabilitating income-producing historic buildings (not owner-occupied residences). Some different requirements apply to this State-Federal 40% tax credit program. For more information, contact the Wisconsin Historical Society at the telephone number and email address above.

You may also contact Larry Reed (608-873-5066) for information about the Village of Cooksville’s and the Town of Porter’s various historic preservation programs.

Cooksville Historic District, Town of Porter, Rock County

[Thanks to Scott Johnson and his neighbor, Joe Lawniczak, Design Specialist with the Wisconsin MAIN STREET Program, for the photos of the Longbourne House.]

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