Ansel B. Cook Home and Museum

It's the podcast's 100th episode! And what better way to celebrate than by exploring the library's own 100th birthday. As part of Cook Library's Centennial Celebration, Local History Librarian Jenny Barry walks us through the first 40 years of the Cook Memorial Public Library up until 1960. Hear what it was like using the library…

For years a quilt covered the bed in the master bedroom of the Ansel B. Cook House. We knew it had something to do with the Union Church, but not much else. One day a volunteer asked if we had a list of all the signatures on it. We didn't. So several volunteers came together…

For a chilling Halloween edition of The Past is Present, Local History Librarian Jenny Barry digs into a mysterious Libertyville legend: the 1885 murder of August Rosine. You may never look at the Cook House the same way again. Listen to last year's Halloween episode on The Gate. http://traffic.libsyn.com/cooklib/Ep_48_The_Past_is_Present_Murder_at_the_Cook_House.mp3…

In the previous Ansel B. Cook post, we followed Ansel B. Cook's rise in Chicago business and politics. While the 1870s were a high point in the life of Ansel B. Cook, the 1880s and 1890s would prove to have ups and downs, particularly in his personal life. In this post we will take a  look at the significant…

In our last Ansel B. Cook post,  we learned about Ansel B. Cook's youth in Haddam, CT,  his training as a stone mason, and the family's move to Illinois in 1846. In today's post, we'll look at Ansel's success in Chicago's business and political worlds. In 1853, Ansel and Willard Cook (Ansel's father) secured the…

Cook Avenue, Cook Park, Cook Memorial Library, the Ansel B. Cook Home. Libertyville is full of things named Cook. Who is this Cook guy? Over the next few months (and several blog posts), we'll take a look at Ansel B. Cook and learn more about the man, his work, and his legacy. Ansel Brainerd Cook, circa…

In the nineteenth century a well-known Chicago architect was commissioned to design buildings in Libertyville, most likely through his association with Ansel B. Cook. Mr. Cook of course, was a town dignitary and the benefactor of the Cook Memorial Library and Cook Park.  In the 1850s he was a successful stone mason and building contractor. …