Cook Station, Missouri, A Short History
by William McKellipps
Cook Station takes its name from Christopher Columbus Cook who served as a Captain in the Confederate Army in the Civil War. After returning from the war Captain Cook donated two miles of land through what is now Cook Station for the St. Louis, Salem, and Little Rock railroad, which later became the Salem branch of the St. Louis – San Francisco Railroad built from 1872-1873.(1)
The town of Cook Station sprang up around the railroad. There was also a spur branch of the railroad running from Goltra (HWY M & the Mine Road) to the Sligo furnace. The spur followed the mine road (railroad spikes can still be found along the road today) until the mine road intersects the Taff Branch, from there the old rail bed cuts southeasterly through the valleys across Roberts cemetery road and on to Sligo. The old rail bed is still shown on maps and gps systems. This spur line carried iron ore to the furnaces, probably timber as well. The Craig Iron Bank is located on the mine road and is still visible. The spur line to Sligo was pulled up around 1930 after the furnace closed. The Salem Branch of the Frisco was pulled up following a flood in 1985. The tracks were badly damaged from the flood and the line had not been used regularly in a year or two.
Cook Station had two churches, Cook Station Baptist Church and the Canaan Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Goodspeed states, “Cook Stations Baptist Church was organized March 8, 1879 by Rev. A.F. Randall, T.E. Carr and John Godby…The Schoolhouse in District No. 1, Township 36, Range 5 west, is used for religious worship. The pastors have been Revs. T.E. Carr and John Godby.”(2) “Canaan Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized about 1862. It is located in the southwest part of the county, on the St. Louis, Salem, & Little Rock Railroad, near the county line…The Church building erected in 1881 is a two-story frame, the upper story being used for a Masonic Hall, and cost about $500.”(3) The latter church is still in use today as the Canaan Community Church.
The post office operated from 1874-1997.(4) William Taff was the postmaster in 1877. Goodspeed listed Lewis Taff as postmaster of Cook Station when the book was published in 1888.(5) It was previously located in the mercantile then moved to a building directly across the road where the vacant lot is next to the bank building.
Lewis Taff owned the first store in Cook Station, which was the mercantile.(6) The mercantile is the only existing store left in Cook Station, however it has not been in operation since the mid 1990’s. There were previously two other stores in Cook Station; the Conway store at the intersection of YY and M which closed in the 1970’s and the YY Pittstop which closed in the early 2000’s.
“The Cook Station Bank was established in 1913 with O.P. Watson as president and William H. Carr as cashier. The bank continued to operate successfully until closed during the depression of 1929.”(7)
The School house was one of the last rural schools to be closed under the reorganization plan of the early 50’s.(8) The last class held at Cook Station School was in 1960. The previous school house was in the open lot adjacent to the present building.
The section house still stands next to the mercantile. Grace Bonnot (nee Nanna) stated in 1975, “I guess it would be called a tank town as all the trains stopped here to take on water. I was born here Nov. 17, 1891. I and the rest of my sisters and brothers except the oldest and the youngest were born in what was called the section house. There were eleven children in all and nine of them were born in the section house.”(9)
The Hotel is next to the section house and is open for rentals. Grace Bonnot stated about the hotel “Bill Dunlap owned the first and only hotel here, it is where the Johnsons now live. I don’t know what year it was built but that is where the salesmen stayed when they had to stay overnight here. In those days they were called drummers.”(10) It should be noted that this was the only hotel, however, Dunlap was the first of several owners of the Hotel. Leander Johnson (T.E. “Huck” Johnson’s father)
Leander Johnson (T.E. “Huck” Johnson’s father) bought the hotel after Dunlap and ran it for years. Huck grew up in the Hotel, and his mother Mabel died there in 1917.
Cook Station has always had a great sense of community. We are smaller now but growing in population. As long as the sense of community is maintained, Cook Station will always have a bright future.
My mom was born and raised in cook station awsome little town still love to drive thru there. Thank you for posting very interesting
Connie Johnson
I used to go there with my mom. We had relatives there at one time and several family in the cemetery. I always thought it was such a quaint, neat little town.
Connie,
I am assuming that your family is related to Huck Johnson. We have several videos on his life in Cook Station and memories of those who knew him well. He is a man that dedicated his life to helping others. I admire him and those he helped. I am working on Part 2 of Huck’s story if you have memories you would like to share?
Cindy Lou
My 4th Grandfather John Godbey was Pastor there .. At Cumberland Church I Got to visit the place while Back ..Thanks For Sharing Memories ,,
My grandma owned the old big white two story House next to the cemetery going into downtown cookstation. There is a brown ranch style house in its place now. Most of the best memories that I have from my childhood revolve around cook station. I was 2-3 years old when I first started going there, the little bridge is where I learned to swim as a child, and that’s where I taught my son’s and daughter to swim and now my grandson too. I’m from STL. But this little town along with Wesco hold all my bestchildhood memories for me and had been a big part of my boys life too before they both passed also. I love that little piece of heaven it means the world to me.
As a child in the early 1970’s living in Ballwin, MO, my Dad would take us to Cook Station for vacation . We would camp on the banks of the Meramec river by the Road where you could watch people jump off of the train trestle into the river. That was always too scary for us to jump off the bridge! My Dad’s cousin who I don’t remember her name unfortunately but a very nice lady who was married with no children ran the General Store and had a farm with cattle close by. Loved that general store!….it was kind of dim inside but always got a cold Grape Nehi soda and some candy. We would drive down the gravel road past the General Store over a low water bridge and then up a way there was a row of cabins. Dad rented a cabin for us for the week and tell us stories about how he vacationed there also as a kid in the 30/40’s. Sometime I would like to return to refresh some fond memories and walk the river bank where we camped! I guess that is privately owned and all grown up now. Thanks for the website!
My best childhood memories are the summers I spent in Cook Station with my grandparents, the Meyers in the 50s.
Residents’ grandchildren would visit in the summers. The Glasgow’s lived next to the Meyers and I always looked forward to seeing their grandchildren. We spent hours playing in the Meramec river. The woman who owned the store was Ocella.
Hello- my dad grew up in Cook Station, and I love visiting there as often as possible- I understand the Cook Station Mercantile has been sold, does anyone know to whom, and what future plans are by chance ? Thank you, Michael Gravatt
I grew up in St. Clair, MO, where many of my father’s family lived. In my teens, we showed horses around the area of Franklin, Gasconade, Crawford, Phelps, Maries, Montgomery, Iron, and adjoining counties. My uncle, Ben Pilkenton, lived in Sullivan and had a friend, Jane B. Harper, who was connected with CV Ranch, Cook Station, MO. Her phone number was Riverview 3-2346, Cherryville, MO, at last I knew from a letter dated April 17, 1960. I purchased a horse which was mentioned in that letter from Jane to Uncle Ben. Apparently, Uncle Ben used to get some good horses from Jane whose brother-in-law was involved in the horse business in Arizona. I could tell stories of activities I had with my horse.
As I recall, there was a farm at one of these towns that became an experiment station for the University of Missouri at Columbia for beef and grass management. Does that still exist? If so, is it possible to visit there.
While I can’t sat that I’ve ever been there, I’d love to visit sometime. I know the population of such small towns shifts a lot. Who would be a good contact, aside from yourself, and how would I contact such a person to visit and learn more of the connection I have with the area.
Thank you for any response you can provide with contact information.
Roger Pilkenton
Thanks for the post,,,…I am Thomas E Johnson 111
My mame is Matt Johnson. My dad was Mike Johnson and his father was Huck Johnson. I never knew alot of the family.
Huck drove my school bus when I attended school in the early 60s
Hello- my favorite place on Earth ! My father lived there (last farm on the left, at the river) Have been visiting there since I was a small child, glad for the new cattle farming, they kept the buildings in great shape ! God bless Carl Helweg for the work he did on the store and hotel, an ex of mine and I rented the hotel one night, it was wonderful- I will be there again soon, I make the trip from St Louis as often as I can- My father was born in Wesco, and his family lived all along the 12 mile stretch from St James to Steelville, ho still loves every inch- my great aunt was a Cook (by marriage) and my grandfather lived in the Snelson Brinker cabin for about 8 months when he was about ten years old- that fire was heartbreaking- Thank you so for the article- Michael C Gravatt RPh
My Usher and Nanna ancestors were from Cook Station. Love going back and seeing the town.
Recently heard that someone had bought the store and a lot of proproty in Cook Station. There is a lot of work going on there. New house and store being rehabbed.