THE HISTORY OF THE COOK PROPERTY

The first record of settlement on the Cook property was by Walter Norse when he came to Libertyville in 1835. When Norse arrived in Libertyville, he found an Englishman named George Vardin living here. Though little is known about Vardin, he was said to be a well-educated man. He lived in a small cabin with his wife and young daughter where Cook Memorial Library stands today. It was also said that George Vardin moved farther west that same year. It was very possible that Vardin was Libertyville's first white settler. The town of Libertyville was also named after him at one point in time when the village was known as Vardin's Grove.

After Vardin moved away, his cabin was taken over by Henry B. Steele. Steele was the elected Sheriff of Lake County and the post master of Libertyville from 1837-1839.

In 1837, Dr. Jesse Foster came to Libertyville. He was the towns first practicing physician. In that same year, Horace Butler (for whom Butler Lake is named) came to the town as the first lawyer. Dr. Foster bought the Cook property and lived in a house which also served as an apothecary shop and post office when he became the postmaster several years later. We can never be certain if the doctor lived in the cabin previously occupied by George Vardin and Henry Steele, but we do know that Dr. Foster built a frame house on the Cook land. this was the primary building on the property when it was finally sold to Ansel Brainerd Cook in 1870. Foster was also the father of Cook's first wife. Years later, Cook moved this frame house to a new location on the north side of Cook Ave. After Cook built the house (later to become the library), the frame house became a home for Cook's caretaker.

In 1845, Ansel Cook came to Lake County from Haddam, Connecticut. He married Dr. Foster's daughter, Helen Maria, in 1849.

The house that we know as the Ansel Cook Victorian museum today was erected in 1878. At first, it was used only as a summer home by Cook and his wife, but later it became their primary, year-round residence. Most of his west property was subdivided and sold after Cook and Brainerd Avenues were opened (Brainerd Ave. was named for Cook's mother's family).

Cook died in 1898. His will instructed that upon the death of Mrs. Cook, the property should go to the village of Libertyville for library and park purposes. In 1920, the Cook property was turned over to the village. The Cook home was remodeled and became the first Cook Memorial Library. The rest of the property was turned into the park that we enjoy today.