Banner image: Whitney Brothers Company boat at dock in Grand Marais harbor
Welcome to the Cook County Historical Society!
Honor the Past, Enrich the Future
Find out what’s happening
Find the latest news and learn more about what we’re up to.
We count on your support
The Cook County Historical Society counts on your support to offer free public tours at all five of our historical sites, conduct tours to local school groups, publish books on local history, collect, share, and preserve the stories of the area, and more.
Historic Cook County Sites & Hours
Thank you to our business and organization partners!
Proud Member of the Cook County Historical Alliance
In 2023, Cook Historic Cook County joined with three other historical societies in Cook County to form the Historical Alliance of Cook County.
Collaboratively telling the history of the land, its people, cultures, and their interactions over time – bringing understanding to how the cultural heritage shapes, inspires, and informs Cook County.
Cook County Historical Society Land ACKNOWLEDGMENT Statement
Cook County occupies traditional, ancestral, and contemporary lands of the Indigenous community. These lands were ceded to the U.S. Government by the Chippewas of Lake Superior in the Treaty of 1854, including the tribal lands of the sovereign nation of the Grand Portage Band of Anishinaabe.
The Cook County Historical Society (CCHS) acknowledges the historic and cultural impact of colonial practices. We are committed to creating an accurate and inclusive history of Cook County and all of its inhabitants.
To do this, we plan to take action on an ongoing basis in several ways:
❖ We will work to preserve the Chippewa City Church/St. Francis Xavier building and property.
❖ We will focus on sharing updated and accurate historical interpretations of the Chippewa City Church and surrounding area.
❖ We have begun the process of consultation with the Grand Portage Anishinaabe on our inventory of Native American artifacts per the new federal regulations related to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).
CCHS will revise and strengthen our action plan each year - soliciting collaboration and feedback from our community. We will share this action plan with our partner organizations.