The Historic Cooksville Trust, Inc.

The Historic Cooksville Trust, Inc., is a charitable, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated on April 2, 1999, to serve as a local, community-based preservation and conservation organization. The goal of the Historic Cooksville Trust is to help the greater Cooksville community in Rock county, Wisconsin, to preserve, conserve, and celebrate its unique and valuable historical, cultural, and natural heritage. The general objective of the volunteer Board of Directors is to help ensure that the historic Village of Cooksville and its historic rural setting continue to be preserved and enjoyed in the future.

The Village of Cooksville and the Surrounding Area

The village of Cooksville and the surrounding area are known for their relatively unspoiled rural environment. The community has had a long history of conserving its heritage, especially in the twentieth century, and it is important that the tradition of preserving this “wee bit of New England in Wisconsin” be continued and strengthened in the twenty-first^t century and beyond.

Cooksville was settled in 1840 and has long been celebrated for its historic architecture. It is the last of early nineteenth century Yankee villages in Wisconsin to retain its original, historical appearance and rural setting. Called the “town that time forgot,” “a quaint and charming Yankee village,” and“a step back in time,” the Village of Cooksville and the surrounding rural community continue to attract attention from lovers of history and architecture. The small village is a historical jewel in the crown of Wisconsin’s countryside. Read more about Cooksville’s history here.

The officially designated Historic District of the Village of Cooksville contains about forty historic buildings and sites, including the Public Square, a mid-nineteenth century general store, two churches, a schoolhouse, and many mid-nineteenth century houses. In the countryside surrounding the village are about ten more officially designated historic farmhouses and sites. In addition to these officially recognized historic properties, a number of other important structures and areas remain to be evaluated for their historical and cultural significance. The Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Read more about Cooksville’s architecture here.

The rural landscape around Cooksville is an integral part of “the sense of time and place” that constitutes the rural heritage of historic Cooksville. This landscape includes the Badfish Creek and marshes, the rolling farmlands, the patterns of agricultural development, and the scattered oak openings.