Cook Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Cook Area Cameras

Village · Johnson County · Population 319 (2020 census) · ZIP 68329 · Founded 1888 · Peak population 387 (1910)

About Cook

Cook is a village of 319 in northern Johnson County, on spur S-49A just east of NE 50, about 10 miles north of Tecumseh. Grades 4 through 8 of Johnson County Central Public Schools are taught here.

History

Helena, about 4 miles west, had a post office by 1857, and a Spring Creek post office opened in 1868 about 2 miles southeast of today's village. When the Missouri Pacific built its Crete branch along the south fork of the Little Nemaha in 1888, John William Cook founded a town on railroad land and named it for his father, Andrew Cook Sr. The first train arrived that November, the Spring Creek post office moved in and took the name Cook, and Helena and nearby Bob Town faded.

Cook was incorporated in 1891 and, with its many artesian wells, became known as the "Artesian City." The population peaked at 387 in 1910. For the town's 1988 centennial, residents built the Duane E. Carman Memorial covered bridge, modeled on a Vermont bridge and made from old local barn wood.

Highways and trails through Cook

Route	One way	Other way
S-49A (W. Main St.)Spur into the village	West to NE 50	Ends in Cook

Nearby towns

Talmage	about 7 mi east-northeast	County roads
Burr	about 7 mi west-northwest	NE 50 and county roads
Tecumseh	about 10 mi south	NE 50
Syracuse	about 10 mi north	NE 50
Johnson	about 11 mi southeast	County roads
Sterling	about 12 mi west-southwest	NE 50 and NE 41
Helena	about 4.4 mi west	County roads

Things to see

The Cook historical marker in Cook City Park on W. Main St. · the Duane E. Carman Memorial covered bridge, with picnic tables · Johnson County Central Middle School and elementary, 407 N. 1st St. · St. Paul's UCC (Osage), 3288 R Rd., north of town, organized in 1871 · Helena Cemetery, about 4.4 mi west · Wirth Brothers Lake, about 4.5 mi south

Schools and health care

Schools: Johnson County Central Public Schools: Johnson County Central Elementary–Tecumseh (PK–3) and Johnson County Central High School (9–12), 358 N. 6th St., Tecumseh; Johnson County Central Elementary–Cook (4–5) and Johnson County Central Middle School (6–8), 407 N. 1st St., Cook

Health care: No clinic in Cook; Johnson County Hospital, 202 High St., Tecumseh, 402-335-3361 (critical access hospital), with Tecumseh Family Health in the same building, 402-335-2811

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Nebraska State Gazetteers (1885, 1890); History Nebraska; National Register of Historic Places; Nebraska Game and Parks; Nemaha NRD; Nebraska Department of Transportation; county, school, museum and parish websites; Nemaha Valley Observer. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.