Historic store to celebrate addition of water and bathroom service on May 2
Historic Cooksville Trust, Inc., president Larry Reed, left, recently presented a check for $12,000 to Waucoma Masonic Lodge #90 secretary/treasurer Dave Sanner. The check represents a grant from the HCT for a major plumbing and interior renovation project which allows the store to upgrade its retail food sales capabilities. The Lodge owns the building, located on the north side of Cooksville. Much of Cooksville, including the 163 year-old general store, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Historic Cooksville Trust, Inc., president Larry Reed, left, recently presented a check for $12,000 to Waucoma Masonic Lodge #90 secretary/treasurer Dave Sanner. The check represents a grant from the HCT for a major plumbing and interior renovation project which allows the store to upgrade its retail food sales capabilities. The Lodge owns the building, located on the north side of Cooksville. Much of Cooksville, including the 163 year-old general store, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Cooksville Community Center, Inc., and other local groups are sponsoring an Open House in celebration of the historic Cooksville General Store and to commemorate the addition of indoor plumbing and much-needed interior remodeling to the 163 year-old structure.
The event is set for May 2, 1 to 4 p.m,. at the store, located on State Road 138 on the north side of Cooksville. The celebration is co-sponsored by the Historic Cooksville Trust, Inc. (HCT), and Waucoma Masonic Lodge #90 of Cooksville. There will be musical entertainment provided by The OK Band, comprised of Stoughton area musicians. There will also be tours of the store and the second floor Lodge. Light refreshments will be available. At 2:30 there will be a short ceremony to mark the day.
Cooksville Community Center, Inc., president, Carl Franseen, said the May 2 event will highlight the village’s commitment to historic preservation in this unincorporated community of about 75 residents located in northwest Rock County.
“This is a great opportunity for Cooksville to show how we work together to get things done here,” said Franseen, who is also a member of the HCT. “We’re a close-knit community with a common goal of ensuring that our historic and architectural heritage is preserved. This project at the store is just one example of how we’ve pulled together to make something happen.”
Much of Cooksville, including the general store, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
For more than seven years, the store has not been allowed to sell perishable food because there was no indoor plumbing to provide a means for store employees to wash their hands. The store can now sell perishable food, including dairy products and other packaged, refrigerated and frozen food.
A new bathroom was added to the southwest corner of the building. Water service was also added to the second story of the building, which is owned by the Waucoma Lodge. The lower-level store is leased by Mark Hoppe, a Cooksville area businessman. The Masons meet monthly on the second floor.
Funding for the project – which totaled about $13,000 - was provided by a grant from the HCT. Hoppe is a major supporter of the Trust and the community of Cooksville. The Masons also provided funding for the project, which utilized two Evansville contractors, Magee Construction and Hurst Plumbing. Magee donated part of his work to the project, which was completed in late February.
The Historic Cooksville Trust grants program is designed to assist the preservation of Cooksville’s heritage. The availability and amount of grants from the Trust depends on the donations of Cooksville residents and friends as well as the Trust, which is a 501©3 organization.
The Cooksville General Store has a record of over 160 years as a fixture in the village— and it may be the oldest general store still in operation in Wisconsin.
The present store dates from about 1847, one year before Wisconsin became a state. In that year, Charles Smith acquired from John Cook, founder of the village, a corner of a corner lot, 26 feet by 66 feet, at Main and Spring streets, its present location. Smith's relatives were carpenters, and, according to local historian Larry Reed, “it can be assumed that a frame building was put up in short order.”
Yankees, often from Vermont, like Earle Woodbury, operated the Store in the early years. In 1864, the store building itself (which often had different owners than the business within) was sold to the second floor tenant, Waucoma Lodge No. 90. The Lodge had been chartered in 1858 and had been leasing the second floor of the building from Woodbury since January of 1859. Thus began the long association of the Lodge with the Store.
According to Reed, old diaries provide some details of the Store’s business dealings—purchases of raisins, cream of tartar, a barrel of Spitzenberg apples, 50 pounds of flour, and delivery to the store of 19 ½ pounds of cheese—and records of luxury goods for those times such a shipment of oysters in November 1872, most probably destined for an oyster supper at the Lodge (oysters were actually a frequent component of a special supper), and in June 1874 the arrival of rare lemons.
The Masons continued to make improvements to the building, and the General Store owner improved the looks of the Store. In 1879 shutter blinds were hung on the building’s windows, and the Masonic hall on the second floor acquired new chairs, hanging lamps, carpets, and wallpaper. In 1882 the large glass front windows were installed and new paint was applied. The “store looks very nobby,” reported the Evansville Review at the time.
In 1890 the Masons bought 18 feet of land west of the building and built an 18x24-foot addition to the store building
The Cooksville General Store was, like most early stores, a basic dry goods, grocery and produce store. In the early days there were cracker and pickle and flour barrels, and cookies and tea in bulk tins. At times, the Store also included fuels and building materials and hardware. Eventually, the store sold such widely assorted things as Cornish game hens, lag bolts, washpans, clothesline, bone-meal, garden seeds, drill bits, underwear, anchovies, overshoes, lamp chimneys, paint, tobacco cloth, and kitchen utensils, as well as dairy and meat products and hot sandwiches and newspapers.
The position of Postmaster was traditional with storekeepers in Cooksville, and the General Store was the last post office before it moved to Evansville in 1903.
The Store survived the 20th century, and even though that most famous of country store institutions, the hot stove league, was weakened by many factors of modern life such as television it was still there as the 20th century progressed.
The Store has been a clearing-house for local information, written and oral, and provided such services for the community as receiving and mailing packages, charging goods to personal accounts and serving as a place to turn to for minor emergency assistance. And it still is the home of the Masonic Lodge on the second floor.
By the beginning of the twenty-first century, having been in business in the same location since the mid-nineteenth century, the Cooksville General Store has, according to some historians, achieved the status as the oldest operating general store in Wisconsin.
The event is set for May 2, 1 to 4 p.m,. at the store, located on State Road 138 on the north side of Cooksville. The celebration is co-sponsored by the Historic Cooksville Trust, Inc. (HCT), and Waucoma Masonic Lodge #90 of Cooksville. There will be musical entertainment provided by The OK Band, comprised of Stoughton area musicians. There will also be tours of the store and the second floor Lodge. Light refreshments will be available. At 2:30 there will be a short ceremony to mark the day.
Cooksville Community Center, Inc., president, Carl Franseen, said the May 2 event will highlight the village’s commitment to historic preservation in this unincorporated community of about 75 residents located in northwest Rock County.
“This is a great opportunity for Cooksville to show how we work together to get things done here,” said Franseen, who is also a member of the HCT. “We’re a close-knit community with a common goal of ensuring that our historic and architectural heritage is preserved. This project at the store is just one example of how we’ve pulled together to make something happen.”
Much of Cooksville, including the general store, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
For more than seven years, the store has not been allowed to sell perishable food because there was no indoor plumbing to provide a means for store employees to wash their hands. The store can now sell perishable food, including dairy products and other packaged, refrigerated and frozen food.
A new bathroom was added to the southwest corner of the building. Water service was also added to the second story of the building, which is owned by the Waucoma Lodge. The lower-level store is leased by Mark Hoppe, a Cooksville area businessman. The Masons meet monthly on the second floor.
Funding for the project – which totaled about $13,000 - was provided by a grant from the HCT. Hoppe is a major supporter of the Trust and the community of Cooksville. The Masons also provided funding for the project, which utilized two Evansville contractors, Magee Construction and Hurst Plumbing. Magee donated part of his work to the project, which was completed in late February.
The Historic Cooksville Trust grants program is designed to assist the preservation of Cooksville’s heritage. The availability and amount of grants from the Trust depends on the donations of Cooksville residents and friends as well as the Trust, which is a 501©3 organization.
The Cooksville General Store has a record of over 160 years as a fixture in the village— and it may be the oldest general store still in operation in Wisconsin.
The present store dates from about 1847, one year before Wisconsin became a state. In that year, Charles Smith acquired from John Cook, founder of the village, a corner of a corner lot, 26 feet by 66 feet, at Main and Spring streets, its present location. Smith's relatives were carpenters, and, according to local historian Larry Reed, “it can be assumed that a frame building was put up in short order.”
Yankees, often from Vermont, like Earle Woodbury, operated the Store in the early years. In 1864, the store building itself (which often had different owners than the business within) was sold to the second floor tenant, Waucoma Lodge No. 90. The Lodge had been chartered in 1858 and had been leasing the second floor of the building from Woodbury since January of 1859. Thus began the long association of the Lodge with the Store.
According to Reed, old diaries provide some details of the Store’s business dealings—purchases of raisins, cream of tartar, a barrel of Spitzenberg apples, 50 pounds of flour, and delivery to the store of 19 ½ pounds of cheese—and records of luxury goods for those times such a shipment of oysters in November 1872, most probably destined for an oyster supper at the Lodge (oysters were actually a frequent component of a special supper), and in June 1874 the arrival of rare lemons.
The Masons continued to make improvements to the building, and the General Store owner improved the looks of the Store. In 1879 shutter blinds were hung on the building’s windows, and the Masonic hall on the second floor acquired new chairs, hanging lamps, carpets, and wallpaper. In 1882 the large glass front windows were installed and new paint was applied. The “store looks very nobby,” reported the Evansville Review at the time.
In 1890 the Masons bought 18 feet of land west of the building and built an 18x24-foot addition to the store building
The Cooksville General Store was, like most early stores, a basic dry goods, grocery and produce store. In the early days there were cracker and pickle and flour barrels, and cookies and tea in bulk tins. At times, the Store also included fuels and building materials and hardware. Eventually, the store sold such widely assorted things as Cornish game hens, lag bolts, washpans, clothesline, bone-meal, garden seeds, drill bits, underwear, anchovies, overshoes, lamp chimneys, paint, tobacco cloth, and kitchen utensils, as well as dairy and meat products and hot sandwiches and newspapers.
The position of Postmaster was traditional with storekeepers in Cooksville, and the General Store was the last post office before it moved to Evansville in 1903.
The Store survived the 20th century, and even though that most famous of country store institutions, the hot stove league, was weakened by many factors of modern life such as television it was still there as the 20th century progressed.
The Store has been a clearing-house for local information, written and oral, and provided such services for the community as receiving and mailing packages, charging goods to personal accounts and serving as a place to turn to for minor emergency assistance. And it still is the home of the Masonic Lodge on the second floor.
By the beginning of the twenty-first century, having been in business in the same location since the mid-nineteenth century, the Cooksville General Store has, according to some historians, achieved the status as the oldest operating general store in Wisconsin.
No comments:
Post a Comment