Cook Memorial Library (Libertyville, Illinois)

The Cook Memorial Library, also known as the Ansel B. Cook House, is a historic house museum in Libertyville, Illinois, United States. It was built as a Victorian house for contractor and politician Ansel B. Cook in 1878. In his will Cook donated the home to be used as a public library, although it remained for many years the residence of Cook's longer-lived widow. After Emily Barrows Cook's death, the building received a major Neoclassical renovation that converted it into a library, opening to the public in 1921.[2]

Ansel B. Cook Home
Location413 N. Milwaukee Ave.,
Libertyville, Illinois
Coordinates42°17′14″N 87°57′19″W
Arealess than one acre
Built1921
ArchitectAnsel B. Cook
Architectural styleClassical Revival
NRHP reference No.01000867[1]
Added to NRHPAugust 16, 2001

By the 1960s the library had outgrown the space available, and voters approved a referendum to construct a new library. The new facility of what is now the Cook Memorial Public Library District opened directly behind the Cook House in 1968.[3]

The building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2001.[1] Today the Libertyville–Mundelein Historical Society operates the house as a Victorian house museum.[2]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "The Ansel B. Cook House". Libertyville–Mundelein Historical Society. Retrieved 2012-12-31.
  3. Pantle, Gabriella (February 2012). "Cook Memorial Library History" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-12-31. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

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