Title

COUNTY DATES

Creation Date

1671 – 1984

Description

COOK COUNTY DATES: (FROM VARIOUS SOURCES)
1671: Cook County area under French Rule.
1731: Sieur de la Verendrye led expedition along the Grand Portage Trail to the Rainy Lake area.
1739: Jesuit Priest holds a school at Grand Portage.
1750s: During the 18th Century Chippewa (Ojibwe) Indians displaced the Dakota in this area.
1762: Cook County area under Spanish rule.
1763: Cook County area under British rule.
1768: Grand Portage trading post built by the North West Company (fur traders)
1778: Revolutionary War, British sent a six man detachment of soldiers to Grand Portage to protect their interests in the fur trade.
1780: Height of Grand Portage fur trading; 500 men employed, 40,000 pounds of fur shipped.
1783: Cook County area under United States rule. Cook County had been part of Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin and finally Minnesota.
1803: North West Company of fur traders abandoned Grand Portage, moved across the border to Canada.
1823: American Fur Company set up a short lived trading and commercial fishing enterprise at Grand Marais.
1854: Treaty of La Point with Chippewa opened all the North Shore to settlement. Richard B. Godfrey began the first non-native settlement at Grand Marais Harbor
1856: Old Dog Trail mail route, Duluth to Grand Marais, oldest such trail in the state.
1865: Holy Rosary Mission Church built at Grand Portage by Jesuit missionaries.
1870s: Samuel Howenstine, Henry Mayhew and Ted Wakelin were the first permanent settlers, acquiring lands around the east and west bays at Grand Marais Harbor.
1871: Thomas Mayhew serves as doctor.
1871: Grand Marais founded.
1873: Sam Howenstine home built "across the bay". Upstairs used as a printing office.
1874: Cook County established as a separate county. Named after a Civil War veteran and former State legislator from Faribault. County residents requested "LaVerendrye". Cook County had previously been part of Itasca, St. Louis, and Lake Counties.
1876: New wagon road built.
1880: Henry J. Redmyer established the village of Redmyer at the Cross River. It was later named Schroeder.
1880: Andrew Jackson Scott, Sr. built his home at the current location of the East Bay Hotel.
1882: First County Board of Commissioners appointed.
1883: East Breakwater completed in the Grand Marais Harbor.
1885: Grand Marais School held at the Mayhew Store.
1885: Grand Marais' first lighthouse began operation. It was built of wood.
1885: First settlement began at Lutsen.
1886: Joseph Mayhew was appointed first lighthouse keeper.
1888: Commercial fishermen establish the community of Hovland.
1888: First courthouse built. Before that time, law was discussed and settled in the Old Mayhew Building. The courthouse was moved to town and later used as a store until it burned down.
1890: Grand Marais School built.
1890: First homesteaders began the settlement of Maple Hill.
1891: They County's first newspaper, the "Grand Marais Pioneer," was printed.
1893: Chris Murphy purchased the newspaper and renamed it the "Cook County Herald". This newspaper is still in print today.
1893: The Port Arthur, Duluth, and Western railway was completed from Canada to the Paulson Mine near Gunflint Lake. A wagon road, the original Gunflint Trail, was completed to Gunflint Lake.
1895: St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church at Chippewa City was dedicated.
1896: The Lighthouse Keeper's house was built. It is now the home of the Cook County Historical Society Museum and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
1899: The first state and wagon road was completed from Duluth to Grand Marais. Prior to this time there was no road passable in the winter.
1901: Charles J. Johnson organized the first bank, The Cook County State Bank.
1901: West breakwater completed at Grand Marais Harbor.
1902: The first Protestant Church in the county was built at Maple Hill.
1902: The Town of Tofte was founded.
1903-4: A sawmilll was built across the bay of the Grand Marais Harbor (west side) by Charles J. Johnson. It was used until 1907. Ten men cut 35,000 feet of lumber per day.
1905: The Hovland Dock was built.
1906: A competitive newspaper, "The Grand Marais News" was started by John A. Blackwell who purchased the Cook County Herald in December 1907 and renamed it the Cook County News Herald.
1907: The Congregational Church was built at Grand Marais.
1907: The Community of Colvill was established with the proposed name of Concord. It was named after Colonel William Colvill by the State Legislature.
1908: The Community of Rosebush was organized.
1908: Forest fires on the North Shore destroyed nearly all of Cook County's communities.
1909: The Superior National Forest was established.
1909: The Cook County State Bank building was built with printing office upstairs.
1910: Weather Bureau storm warning tower was built.
1911: The Village library was built (Willing Workers Hall) at the corner of First Avenue West and First Street in Grand Marais.
1914: Hedstrom Lumber Company began operations and is still in business today.
1917: The Outlaw Bridge was built across the Pigeon River. It was the first span across the border from the United States to Canada. It was called the Outlaw Bridge because it was built by private citizens without the permission of the government.
1925: The Cook County Historical Society was founded.
1928: A Coast Guard Station was established at Grand Marais and began operations in 1929.
1929: Many buildings in Grand Marais burned, including the Cook County State Bank, Cherry's Bakery, People's Supply Store, Leng's, and Ruth Soderberg's store.
1930-42: Thirteen camps of the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) were established in Cook County.
1947: The Grand Marais Art Colony was founded.
1964: The Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) was established within the Superior National Forest.